Conversation is an example of Renoir’s Impressionistic painting from the 1870s. The hands and faces of the figures are painted with thin, parallel brushstrokes which give the effect of flickers of light. The painting is also an example of the Impressionists’ reluctance to use black; instead, the dark sections are painted in dark blue. The man in the painting is Frédéric Cordey, and artist who was at one point a student of Renoir’s. The woman has been identified as Marguerite Legrand, one of Renoir’s favourite models during the period 1875–1879.