Two Sisters (On the Terrace) basket containing balls of wool. Over the railings of the terrace one can see shrubbery and foliage with the River Seine behind it. In 1880 to 1881, shortly before working on "Two Sisters", Renoir worked in this particular location on another well-known painting, "Luncheon of the Boating Party". Jeanne Darlot (1863—1914), a future actress who was 18 years old at the time, was posing as "the elder sister." It is unknown who posed as the "younger sister," but it is stated that the models were not actually related. Renoir began work on the painting in April 1881 and on July
Luncheon in the Studio saying to us: Look at me!... Thus, no expression, no feeling, no composition." He spoke of "types without character, scenes devoid of all interest" and said disparagingly (yet insightfully from the point of view of modern criticism) that "Manet had made the portrait of a "Balcony" and a "Luncheon"". Meyers finds the depiction of Leenhoff similar in some respects to an 1855 portrait by Edgar Degas of his brother, "Achille De Gas in the Uniform of a Cadet". They share the leaning pose, the presence of swords, and facial characteristics. He further suggests that, by borrowing from the Degas work,