In the 1870s, Renoir temporarily rejected the realism of Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet in favour of the colour and drama of his hero Delacroix. He painted The Harem in homage to Delacroix's Women of Algiers in their Apartment (1834, Louvre) which he later described as "the most beautiful picture in existence".Benjamin, Roger. (2003) Renoir and Algeria. New Haven: Yale University Press, p. 19.
