Detail opens out the space to what lies beyond. For all its variety, the constant anima- The play of color and the touch of the brush on tion of the brushwork lends a further sense of coherence to the whole, and simi- the canvas animate the lar colors recur in many parts of the canvas. Most significantly, a sequence of surface of La Promenade. pinks and reds across the picture, set off against the surrounding cool greens and blues, operates in both aesthetic and thematic terms. It leads from the woman's face and hat through the joined hands (the reds are quite intense here) to the man's face and the remarkable red ribbon on his hat and finally to his left hand, pointing to where he wishes her to go. Throughout the canvas, color and touch together create a complex weave. The effect is never repetitive or systematic, but retains a sense of fresh- ness and informality, of pictorial solutions worked out as the picture evolved. This painterly virtuosity recognized no rules and saw no limits to its capacity to improvise. Renoir's touch does not have the measured density of Manet's or Monet's, the capacity to create the most vivid effects and contrasts with a few incisive strokes. However, the technique of La Promenade is vivid testimony to 66