The boat sits low in the water, its length stretching nearly the width of the painting's foreground, while a small black dog stands alert on the wooden dock at the lower left, gazing out at the river. To the left, the mast and rigging of a moored sailboat rise vertically, its hull painted in dark tones that contrast with the shimmering blue and violet of the river. The water ripples with short, broken brushstrokes of blue, purple, yellow, and orange, catching the reflections of sky, trees, and boats in a mosaic of color.

Beyond the river, a band of ochre and green marks the far bank, where a dense row of trees in russet, green, and deep brown forms a screen against the sky. Above, the sky is animated with swirling clouds, painted in soft pinks, whites, and blues, their forms echoed in the water below. The brushwork is loose and visible throughout, with dabs and strokes layered to suggest movement in the water and air, while the figures and objects are outlined just enough to stand out from their surroundings.

Touches of green and turquoise on the dock and water add cool notes to the warm palette of reds, yellows, and oranges. Two people are seated in the orange boat, both wearing light-colored hats, with one figure rowing and the other sitting facing forward. The far right edge of the painting shows the water meeting the riverbank, where the brushstrokes become denser and the colors shift to deeper greens and browns.

Sunlight falls most brightly on the dock and the figures in the boat, casting subtle shadows beneath the boat and the dog. The upper left corner is dominated by the mast and rigging, which are painted with long, vertical lines that break up the horizontal composition of the river and bank. The trees in the background are rendered with dappled, stippled strokes of orange, red, and green, suggesting autumn foliage.

The paint is applied thickly in some areas, especially in the water and sky, creating a textured, almost shimmering surface that emphasizes the movement of light. Pierre-Auguste Renoir paints The Seine at Argenteuil (La Seine à Argenteuil) in 1888, capturing a riverside scene at Argenteuil.