She largely conceals a female figure at the centre of the frame, caught in the act of raising or lowering her umbrella, suggesting that the rain is about to start or stop.

The principal female figure to the left of the frame, a milliner's assistant or modiste modelled by Renoir's lover and frequent subject Suzanne Valadon, holds up her skirt against the mud and water on the road as she carries a hatbox, but has no hat, raincoat or umbrella.

The composition appears natural, but the angles of the umbrellas are carefully arranged to form geometric shapes, with the main figure's bandbox and the girl's hoop adding rounded elements.

The pigment analysis of Renoir's The Umbrellas conducted by the scientists at the National Gallery in London[2] confirmed the assumption that it was painted in two distinct stages as mentioned above.

[3] Renoir did not exhibit The Umbrellas straight away – he may have thought the combination of styles would be too challenging for the public – and he eventually sold the painting to the French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel in 1892.