A work made of black chalk (recto and verso) on ivory laid paper (discolored to tan).

The Descent from the Summit: Jean Martin Steadies Hélène, the Banker’s Daughter (Illustration for Edmond Renoir’s “L’étiquette”) (recto); Half-Length Sketch of a Woman (verso)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1881

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Palette

Pale stone
52% of the image
Gold & ochre · text contrast 10.9:1

Mushroom
20% of the image
Grey · text contrast 7.7:1

Warm grey
14% of the image
Grey · text contrast 5.5:1

Chalk
7% of the image
White & cream · text contrast 14.8:1

Taupe
4% of the image
Brown · text contrast 5.1:1

Iron
2% of the image
Grey · text contrast 7.6:1

Colours measured by this site from the museum image (k-means in CIELAB). Names are the nearest in our own list and describe how the colour looks, not the pigment. Text on each chip uses whichever of black or white contrasts more (WCAG ratio shown). How

Details

Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir
French, 1841-1919
Date: 1881
Type: Drawing & watercolour
Medium: Black chalk (recto and verso) on ivory laid paper (discolored to tan)
Size: 49.2 × 31.9 cm (19 3/8 × 12 9/16 in.)
Place: France
Period: 19th century
Main colour: Gold & ochre · lightness 72, colourfulness 12

Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. B. E. Bensinger. Museum record. Public domain: the museum's is_public_domain field read true when we last checked (2026-10-25); image released under CC0. Licence rules