When Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted Sleeping woman in 1897, he was already wrestling with the effects of rheumatoid arthritis, which had begun to deform his hands and alter his technique. Rather than retreat, Renoir adapted, strapping brushes to his fingers and embracing a softer, more fluid approach to paint. This late period, sometimes called his "second style," is marked by a renewed intimacy and warmth—qualities that suffuse Sleeping woman.

The painting stands as a testament to Renoir's determination to find beauty and tenderness even as his body failed him. The scene is deceptively simple: a woman, her head resting on folded arms, drifts into sleep. Renoir captures her in a moment of unguarded repose, her features softened by the gentle play of light across her face and hair. The brushwork is loose and luminous, dissolving hard edges and letting color shimmer at the boundaries—an effect that recalls the late nudes of Titian, whom Renoir admired.

The figure's relaxed posture and the intimate framing invite the viewer to share in this quiet moment, transforming a private act into a universal meditation on rest and vulnerability. The exact identity of the model remains uncertain, as is often the case with Renoir's late portraits, but it is likely she was one of the artist's favored sitters from his circle in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Sleeping woman was painted during a period when Renoir was focused on domestic subjects and scenes of everyday life, distancing himself from the urban bustle of his earlier Impressionist years. The painting's subsequent history is less documented than some of his larger works; it has passed through private collections and only occasionally appeared in public exhibitions.

Today, it is prized as an example of Renoir's late style, where the boundaries between figure and background dissolve in a haze of color and light, and where the artist's struggle and serenity are equally present on the canvas.