Like other artists who painted in an Impressionist style in the 1870s, Renoir eventually began to explore a different manner of painting. A trip to Italy in 1881–82 brought prolonged exposure to Renaissance art and led him to emphasize contours and modeling in his painting. He also began to abandon the notion that scenes should be painted outdoors to capture nuances of light and atmosphere. "By the Seashore" is thought to have been painted in the artist's studio, where Renoir's model, Aline Charigot—whom he married in 1890—posed in a wicker chair. Although Renoir visited Guernsey the year this painting was made, the beach depicted here is probably not in the Channel Islands but near Dieppe, on the Normandy coast.

Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): Renoir. 83.

[Durand-Ruel, Paris, bought from artist on January 9, 1884, as "Young Woman Knitting by the Sea"]; P. de Kuyper, The Hague (until 1891; sold on October 14 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris, later New York, 1891–92; sold on April 2, 1892 for $1,800 to Lambert]; Catholina Lambert, Paterson, N. J. (1892–99; sold on February 28, 1899 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1899, stock no. 2123; sold on March 10, for $4,000 to Havemeyer]; Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York (1899–his d. 1907); Mrs. H. O. (Louisine W.) Havemeyer, New York (1907–d. 1929; cat., 1931, pp. 168–69, ill.)

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The H. O. Havemeyer Collection," March 10–November 2, 1930, no. 101 (as "By the Seashore") [2nd ed., 1958, no. 181].

Pennsylvania Museum of Art. "Manet and Renoir," November 29, 1933–January 1, 1934, no catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Renoir: A Special Exhibition of His Paintings," May 18–September 12, 1937, no. 40.

Worcester Art Museum. "The Art of the Third Republic, French Painting 1870–1940," February 22–March 16, 1941, no. 10.

Hempstead, N.Y. Hofstra College. "Metropolitan Museum Masterpieces," June 26–September 1, 1952, no. 41.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Masterpieces of Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 16–November 1, 1970, unnumbered cat.

London. Hayward Gallery. "The Impressionists in London," January 3–March 11, 1973, no. 51.

Leningrad [St. Petersburg]. State Hermitage Museum. "100 Paintings from the Metropolitan Museum," May 22–July 27, 1975, no. 70.

Moscow. State Pushkin Museum. "100 Paintings from the Metropolitan Museum," August 28–November 2, 1975, no. 70.

Leningrad [St. Petersburg]. State Hermitage Museum. "From Delacroix to Matisse," March 15–May 10, 1988, no. 23.

Moscow. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. "From Delacroix to Matisse," June 10–July 30, 1988, no. 23.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection," March 27–June 20, 1993, no. A460.

Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "La collection Havemeyer: Quand l'Amérique découvrait l'impressionnisme...," October 20, 1997–January 18, 1998, no. 11 (as "Femme assise au bord de la mer").

London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Impressionists by the Sea," July 7–September 30, 2007, no. 64.

Washington. Phillips Collection. "Impressionists by the Sea," October 20, 2007–January 13, 2008, no. 64.

Hartford. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. "Impressionists by the Sea," February 9–May 11, 2008, no. 64.

Albert C. Barnes, and Violette De Mazia. The Art of Renoir. New York, 1935, pp. 77–78, 97, 274, 407–08, 455, no. 133, ill., note the unconventional relationship between figure and background.

Charles Terrasse. Cinquante portraits de Renoir. Paris, 1941, unpaginated, pl. 24.

Michel Drucker. Renoir. Paris, 1944, pp. 62, 203–4, no. 70, colorpl. 70, mentions that the model seems to have posed in several of his other paintings of the same period.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Miniatures, French Impressionists: Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, and Boudin. 27, Album 51, New York, 1951, unpaginated, ill. (color).

A. Hyatt Mayor. "The Gifts that Made the Museum." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 16 (November 1957), ill. p. 96.

Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX–XX Centuries." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3, New York, 1967, pp. 155–57, ill., believe that it was probably painted during Renoir's stay in Guernsey in September 1883.

Margaretta M. Salinger. "Windows Open to Nature." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 27 (Summer 1968), unpaginated, ill., calls it an early example of Renoir's "dry" manner, combining loose brushstrokes with smooth passages such as the face and hands.

François Daulte. "Figures." Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint. 1, Lausanne, 1971, unpaginated, no. 448, ill.

Everett Fahy in "Paintings, Drawings." The Wrightsman Collection. 5, [New York], 1973, p. 191, notes that the handling of the paint is much tighter than in previous paintings.

John Rewald. "The Impressionist Brush." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 32, no. 3 (1973/1974), pp. 36, 54, no. 23, ill. (overall and color detail), argues that the combination of a linear approach and a painterly style is the result of Renoir's crisis around 1883, when he felt the need to incorporate the discipline of old masters into his Impressionist technique.

Anthea Callen. Renoir. London, 1978, pp. 20, 84, pl. 65, affirms that it was doubtless painted in Renoir's studio after his return to Paris from Guernsey.

Barbara Ehrlich White. Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters. New York, 1984, pp. 133-34, ill. (color), identifies the model as Renoir's future wife, Aline Charigot, and erroneously states that she is sewing.

Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 168–69, ill. (color), believes that it was probably painted at Guernsey; argues that Renoir may have painted the figure first and only later added the scenic view as background decoration, as was his custom in the 1880s and 1890s, noting that the background in such paintings is reminiscent of Italian frescoes and Watteau's landscape settings.

Frances Weitzenhoffer. The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America. New York, 1986, pp. 135, 151, 226–27, 257, no. 98, ill.

Colin B. Bailey in Colin B. Bailey. Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. New Haven, 1997, p. 192, remarks that Georges-Marie-Jean-Hugues Durand-Ruel, the youngest son of Paul-Marie-Joseph, was responsible for selling this painting to Louisine Havemeyer.

Colin B. Bailey in Renoir Landscapes: 1865–1883. Exh. cat., National Gallery. London, 2007, p. 73, asserts that it was inspired by Renoir's trip to the Normandy coast and the Channel Islands, commenting that this picture and "Seated Bather" (Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Mass.) are "the most important figure paintings undertaken in Paris after his return".

John House. Impressionists by the Sea. Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts. London, 2007, pp. 99, 140–41, no. 64, ill. pp. 12, 114, 140 (color, overall and detail), asserts that it is not a portrait, but depicts the generic figure of a seaside tourist, probably studied from a model in the studio.

Rebecca A. Rabinow in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 156, 299, no. 145, ill. (color and black and white).

Gary Tinterow in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, fig. 11 (installation photo).

Colin B. Bailey in Masterpieces of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: The Annenberg Collection. 4th rev. ed. [1st ed., 1989]. New York, 2009, p. 122, fig. 92.