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
The Boating Party bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum, but some works were left to the Havemeyer children and have since ended up elsewhere. Art historian and museum administrator Frederick A. Sweet calls it "One of the most ambitious paintings she ever attempted". His 1966 analysis focusses on the balance of the "powerful dark silhouette of the boatman", the angle between the oar and the arm that "thrusts powerfully into the centre of the composition towards the mother and child" and "delicate, feminine ones". Cassatt placed the horizon at the top of the frame in Japanese fashion. colorplate 75 35 7/16x46 1/8 in. (90