Pierre Auguste RENOIR (1841-1919)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : France Groups Music and dance Cities Paris
Chronology : 19th century 1870-1879 1888 1890
See also : France Groups Music and dance Cities Paris
Chronology : 19th century 1870-1879 1888 1890
1874-1877 Sentier dans le Bois
2019 SOLD for £ 12.7M by Christie's
In the early 1860s Monet, Bazille, Sisley and Renoir were students at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Gleyre's studio. To escape academism they take their easels for painting outdoors in the forest of Fontainebleau.
Far away from the realism of the landscape painters of Barbizon, they explore new expressions, and especially new uses of colors. The shadow may be other than black, the snow may be other than white. Working on the texture brings a luminous effect.
After the Franco-Prussian war in which they loose Bazille, the young men resume their experiences. The drawing in the style of Manet remains preponderant for the figurative while the details of the greenery are lost in a brilliantly colored fragmentation.
The Salon is increasingly reluctant to this trend that escapes the official good taste. In December 1873 the three friends joined by Pissarro, Degas and Prins create a cooperative society to find a clientele. For their first exhibition in the following year, they rent for one month the workshop of Nadar. With Berthe Morisot, Cézanne, Guillaumin and Rouart among others, they will be forced to accept the pejorative sobriquet of Impressionnistes.
On February 27, 2019, Christie's sold for £ 12.7M from a lower estimate of £ 7M an oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm painted by Renoir, lot 8.
This sous-bois is composed of a multicolored pattern spotted with shadows and lights and dotted with some realistic details. The perspective effect is assured by the path that goes straight to infinity, punctuated in mid distance by a tiny character who symbolises the human place within the immensity of nature.
In the typical style of the first three Impressionist exhibitions, this undated artwork was certainly painted between 1874 and 1877. It was located by Dauberville in the forest of Fontainebleau.
Far away from the realism of the landscape painters of Barbizon, they explore new expressions, and especially new uses of colors. The shadow may be other than black, the snow may be other than white. Working on the texture brings a luminous effect.
After the Franco-Prussian war in which they loose Bazille, the young men resume their experiences. The drawing in the style of Manet remains preponderant for the figurative while the details of the greenery are lost in a brilliantly colored fragmentation.
The Salon is increasingly reluctant to this trend that escapes the official good taste. In December 1873 the three friends joined by Pissarro, Degas and Prins create a cooperative society to find a clientele. For their first exhibition in the following year, they rent for one month the workshop of Nadar. With Berthe Morisot, Cézanne, Guillaumin and Rouart among others, they will be forced to accept the pejorative sobriquet of Impressionnistes.
On February 27, 2019, Christie's sold for £ 12.7M from a lower estimate of £ 7M an oil on canvas 65 x 54 cm painted by Renoir, lot 8.
This sous-bois is composed of a multicolored pattern spotted with shadows and lights and dotted with some realistic details. The perspective effect is assured by the path that goes straight to infinity, punctuated in mid distance by a tiny character who symbolises the human place within the immensity of nature.
In the typical style of the first three Impressionist exhibitions, this undated artwork was certainly painted between 1874 and 1877. It was located by Dauberville in the forest of Fontainebleau.
This striking #PierreAugusteRenoir piece finishes above estimate for a £12,691,250 final @ChristiesInc pic.twitter.com/fn2W3yKSwO
— Art Observed (@ArtObserved) February 27, 2019
1874-1877 Femmes dans un Jardin
2007 SOLD for $ 12.2M by Sotheby's
An oil on canvas 55 x 65 cm painted by Renoir in the first phase of the Impressionism was sold by Sotheby's on November 7, 2007 for $ 12.2M from a lower estimate of $ 8M, lot 15.
It looks like a horizontal counterpart to the Sentier dans le bois that was sold for £ 12.7M in 2019, with the same effect of light and shadow in a similar perspective. Despite its title Femmes dans un jardin, the two far away silhouettes in the shadow are almost canceled within the impressionist brushstroke.
It looks like a horizontal counterpart to the Sentier dans le bois that was sold for £ 12.7M in 2019, with the same effect of light and shadow in a similar perspective. Despite its title Femmes dans un jardin, the two far away silhouettes in the shadow are almost canceled within the impressionist brushstroke.
1875 Square de la Trinité
2023 SOLD for $ 12M by Christie's
Painted by Renoir in a Parisian park of Haussmannian surrounding, Square de la Trinité is an example of his signature impression of happy moments amidst a lush vegetation of flower beds and shadowing trees in sunlight. A man and a woman are in flirtation in the foreground while child keepers populate the farther paths. A reminiscence of Watteau's Fêtes galantes theme may be considered.
This painting is typical of the early Impressionniste brushstroke of Renoir, including a blur effect that increases with the distance. The palette is brilliant and the texture is scintillating.
A terminus post quem is certainly the development of that style of painting around the first Impressionniste exhibition in 1874. A terminus ante quem would be the come back to a sharper drawing of the figures such as in the Bal du Moulin de la Galette in 1876. A 2007-2008 travelling exhibition in London, Ottawa and Philadelphia proposed 1875.
This oil on canvas 54 x 65 cm was sold for $ 12M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Christie's on May 11, 2023, lot 31A, dated 1878-1879. It had remained in the same family since 1933. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
This painting is typical of the early Impressionniste brushstroke of Renoir, including a blur effect that increases with the distance. The palette is brilliant and the texture is scintillating.
A terminus post quem is certainly the development of that style of painting around the first Impressionniste exhibition in 1874. A terminus ante quem would be the come back to a sharper drawing of the figures such as in the Bal du Moulin de la Galette in 1876. A 2007-2008 travelling exhibition in London, Ottawa and Philadelphia proposed 1875.
This oil on canvas 54 x 65 cm was sold for $ 12M from a lower estimate of $ 4M by Christie's on May 11, 2023, lot 31A, dated 1878-1879. It had remained in the same family since 1933. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1876 Bal du Moulin de la Galette
1
masterpiece
Musée d'Orsay
In 1863 Charles Gleyre admonishes Monet because he does not follow the model of the antique. Bringing with him three friends, Sisley, Renoir and Bazille, Monet slams the door and manages to paint outdoors.
Their temperaments are different. They are young and tempted by the good life of dancing balls. While Monet is overtaken by his wife, Renoir expresses the carefree joie de vivre of the groups to which he applies the impressionist style. Le Bal du Moulin de la Galette in 1876 and Le Déjeuner des Canotiers, exhibited in 1882, are among the most important masterpieces of painting.
Renoir painted two identical versions of the Moulin de la Galette. The largest, 131 x 175 cm, became the property of the French State through the Caillebotte bequest and is currently at the Musée d'Orsay. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Their temperaments are different. They are young and tempted by the good life of dancing balls. While Monet is overtaken by his wife, Renoir expresses the carefree joie de vivre of the groups to which he applies the impressionist style. Le Bal du Moulin de la Galette in 1876 and Le Déjeuner des Canotiers, exhibited in 1882, are among the most important masterpieces of painting.
Renoir painted two identical versions of the Moulin de la Galette. The largest, 131 x 175 cm, became the property of the French State through the Caillebotte bequest and is currently at the Musée d'Orsay. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
1990 SOLD for $ 78 M by Sotheby's
The other version is an oil on canvas 78 x 114 cm damaged by folding. Coming from the Whitney collection, it was sold for $ 78M by Sotheby's on May 17, 1990. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The buyer was a Japanese collector named Ryoei Saito, who had acquired the Portrait of Dr Gachet by Van Gogh two days earlier at Christies for $ 82M. Saito creates some terror in the art world by announcing that at his death he will be cremated with the two paintings to avoid that enormous inheritance rights are required to his heirs.
Saito died in 1996. His threat was not carried out because his wealth had turned down and the artworks were sequestered by his creditors, but the two paintings were never seen again. The Van Gogh was reportedly located in 2007 in the collection of an Austrian financier who has since gone bankrupt.
The buyer was a Japanese collector named Ryoei Saito, who had acquired the Portrait of Dr Gachet by Van Gogh two days earlier at Christies for $ 82M. Saito creates some terror in the art world by announcing that at his death he will be cremated with the two paintings to avoid that enormous inheritance rights are required to his heirs.
Saito died in 1996. His threat was not carried out because his wealth had turned down and the artworks were sequestered by his creditors, but the two paintings were never seen again. The Van Gogh was reportedly located in 2007 in the collection of an Austrian financier who has since gone bankrupt.
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1878 L'Ombrelle
2013 SOLD for £ 9.7M by Christie's
On February 6, 2013, Christie's sold for £ 9.7M from a lower estimate of £ 4M a small oil on canvas, 62 x 51 cm, made by Renoir in 1878, lot 13. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The woman is quietly sitting alone in the garden. She holds an elegant ombrelle (parasol) that protects her from the sun.
The garden of Renoir vibrates of many colors to such an extent that we do not even notice that the flowers were not drawn. The impression is due to the texture, so anticipating also the art of Van Gogh and Klimt. Monet had opened the way with his grassy slopes of Argenteuil.
Renoir, aged 37, is at the best of his creativity. Two years before, he had painted the Bal du Moulin de la Galette whose sharp drawing looks closer to Manet, and which was sold $ 78M by Sotheby's on May 17, 1990.
The style of the Femme à l'ombrelle is rather in the following of another of his masterpieces of 1876, the Swing (in the Musée d'Orsay), where the sunspots filtered through the undergrowth are added to the mystery of the garden.
In a comparable Impressionist style, an oil on canvas painted in 1881 by Berthe Morisot was sold for £ 7M in the same 2013 sale.
The woman is quietly sitting alone in the garden. She holds an elegant ombrelle (parasol) that protects her from the sun.
The garden of Renoir vibrates of many colors to such an extent that we do not even notice that the flowers were not drawn. The impression is due to the texture, so anticipating also the art of Van Gogh and Klimt. Monet had opened the way with his grassy slopes of Argenteuil.
Renoir, aged 37, is at the best of his creativity. Two years before, he had painted the Bal du Moulin de la Galette whose sharp drawing looks closer to Manet, and which was sold $ 78M by Sotheby's on May 17, 1990.
The style of the Femme à l'ombrelle is rather in the following of another of his masterpieces of 1876, the Swing (in the Musée d'Orsay), where the sunspots filtered through the undergrowth are added to the mystery of the garden.
In a comparable Impressionist style, an oil on canvas painted in 1881 by Berthe Morisot was sold for £ 7M in the same 2013 sale.
1882 Dans les Roses
2003 SOLD for $ 23.5M by Sotheby's
From the mid 1870s, Renoir brings a high care to the execution of his paintings, including his masterpiece Le Déjeuner des Canotiers in 1880-1881. In the faces, a realistic delineation supersedes the impressionist strokes, still applied in the surroundings.
Monsieur and Madame Clapisson are wealthy rentiers, 46 and 33 years old. In 1882 Monsieur begins collecting art. He invites Renoir to make a portrait of his wife in the garden of their Neuilly mansion.
This oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm features Valentine Clapisson taking tea, seated on a bench amidst the roses, with a verdant background. Renoir reminded afterward that he had a real pleasure painting this charming and quiet figure, gently smiling to the artist. An umbrella beside her confirms the sunny weather.
In a current view, it is one of the best portrait paintings by Renoir. In period the husband considered its bright colors as daring and rejected it. Renoir kept it for some time under a title that would not shock the bourgeois. It was later known with a better title, Dans les roses. He made another portrait which was accepted by the jealous husband.
Out of view from 1937, Dans les Roses was sold by Sotheby's on May 6, 2003 for $ 23.5M, lot 18. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In the same theme with another sitter and in a more impressionist touch, L'Ombrelle, oil on canvas 62 x 51 cm painted in 1878, was sold for £ 9.7M by Christie's on February 6, 2013.
Monsieur and Madame Clapisson are wealthy rentiers, 46 and 33 years old. In 1882 Monsieur begins collecting art. He invites Renoir to make a portrait of his wife in the garden of their Neuilly mansion.
This oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm features Valentine Clapisson taking tea, seated on a bench amidst the roses, with a verdant background. Renoir reminded afterward that he had a real pleasure painting this charming and quiet figure, gently smiling to the artist. An umbrella beside her confirms the sunny weather.
In a current view, it is one of the best portrait paintings by Renoir. In period the husband considered its bright colors as daring and rejected it. Renoir kept it for some time under a title that would not shock the bourgeois. It was later known with a better title, Dans les roses. He made another portrait which was accepted by the jealous husband.
Out of view from 1937, Dans les Roses was sold by Sotheby's on May 6, 2003 for $ 23.5M, lot 18. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In the same theme with another sitter and in a more impressionist touch, L'Ombrelle, oil on canvas 62 x 51 cm painted in 1878, was sold for £ 9.7M by Christie's on February 6, 2013.
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1888 Bathers
1
Jeune Femme se baignant
1997 SOLD for $ 12.4M by Christie's
Not so easy, the artist's life ! After the early period of enthusiasm, the Impressionists began to look for adapting their style to what they thought they could sell. Renoir certainly considered the commercial effectiveness of the nude figures by Bouguereau.
His Grandes Baigneuses painting is exhibited in Paris in 1887. The line is too sharp, imitating Ingres and puzzling the friends of the artist who were probably expecting a more original evolution. They were right.
The considerable work done by Renoir for this questioned painting had a fundamental impact on his art : now, the artist is passionate about the theme of the everlasting beauty, inspired from classical antiquity and from Botticelli's Nascita di Venere.
Jeune Femme se baignant, oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm painted in 1888, is an example of the idealized woman, rivaling the voluptuous women by Fragonard and Boucher. The fully grown red haired woman is full front standing with the water of the pond up to her knees. The warm tone of the flesh, the closed eyes and the finger in modesty while the other hand is catching the long wet hair are providing an expression of sweetness.
This painting was sold for $ 12.4M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Christie's on May 14, 1997, lot 29 (not illustrated) and was listed by Sotheby's in London in 2004, lot 8. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
His Grandes Baigneuses painting is exhibited in Paris in 1887. The line is too sharp, imitating Ingres and puzzling the friends of the artist who were probably expecting a more original evolution. They were right.
The considerable work done by Renoir for this questioned painting had a fundamental impact on his art : now, the artist is passionate about the theme of the everlasting beauty, inspired from classical antiquity and from Botticelli's Nascita di Venere.
Jeune Femme se baignant, oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm painted in 1888, is an example of the idealized woman, rivaling the voluptuous women by Fragonard and Boucher. The fully grown red haired woman is full front standing with the water of the pond up to her knees. The warm tone of the flesh, the closed eyes and the finger in modesty while the other hand is catching the long wet hair are providing an expression of sweetness.
This painting was sold for $ 12.4M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Christie's on May 14, 1997, lot 29 (not illustrated) and was listed by Sotheby's in London in 2004, lot 8. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
Baigneuse
1997 SOLD for $ 21M by Sotheby's
A Baigneuse, oil on canvas 65 x 55 cm painted in 1888 by Renoir, was sold for $ 21M by Sotheby's on November 13, 1997. It was withdrawn by Christie's for private sale before its scheduled auction of June 20, 2012.
The young woman is nude after a bath, quiet, gesturing toilet. No other accessory than a small towel, in an unimportant outdoor setting. She is the ideal woman, timeless.
Especially, the quality of the flesh is exceptional, velvety without being erotic. The synthesis of Impressionist experience and Ingresque ideal pushes Renoir to the level of Rubens.
The young woman is nude after a bath, quiet, gesturing toilet. No other accessory than a small towel, in an unimportant outdoor setting. She is the ideal woman, timeless.
Especially, the quality of the flesh is exceptional, velvety without being erotic. The synthesis of Impressionist experience and Ingresque ideal pushes Renoir to the level of Rubens.
1890 Jeune Fille à la Corbeille de Fleurs
2021 SOLD for $ 13M by Sotheby's
In the later 1880s the Baigneuses period had been a restart in the art of Renoir. Now the ideal young woman must be on earth, not in a pantheon. He makes portraits of anonymous young sitters in fresh attitudes, which are characterized by the quality of the pink texture of the skin in an appealing childish face and a soft light.
Jeune Fille à la Corbeille de Fleurs, oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm, is a masterpiece of that new period and the most expensive work that Durand-Ruel acquired from Renoir in the full year 1890. Two oil studies in the same format for that finished painting were also bought by Durand-Ruel.
The well dressed girl with a growing breast is slightly bending her head for engaging her charming gaze and smile with the viewer. The pose is inspired from Ingres's Portrait de Madame Rivière.
This exquisite portrait was sold for $ 13M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on November 16, 2021, lot 33. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The catalogue reports that the second study had been sold for $ 8.5M in June 1993.
Jeune Fille à la Corbeille de Fleurs, oil on canvas 81 x 65 cm, is a masterpiece of that new period and the most expensive work that Durand-Ruel acquired from Renoir in the full year 1890. Two oil studies in the same format for that finished painting were also bought by Durand-Ruel.
The well dressed girl with a growing breast is slightly bending her head for engaging her charming gaze and smile with the viewer. The pose is inspired from Ingres's Portrait de Madame Rivière.
This exquisite portrait was sold for $ 13M from a lower estimate of $ 6M by Sotheby's on November 16, 2021, lot 33. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. The catalogue reports that the second study had been sold for $ 8.5M in June 1993.
1894 Berthe Morisot and her Daughter Julie Manet
2022 SOLD for $ 24.4M by Christie's
Berthe Morisot maintained in her home closed social links with the Impressionist artists and the avant-garde poets. She had married in 1874 Eugène, the younger brother of Edouard Manet. Their daughter Julie was born in 1878.
In the late 1880s she developed a mutual artistic influence with Pierre-Auguste Renoir who made in 1887 a portrait of the child Julie Manet with a round face. Renoir took Julie again as a sitter in 1894. After a few sessions, he convinced Berthe to sit also for an intimate portrait with her beloved daughter.
The double portrait, oil on canvas 81 x 66 cm painted in April 1894 in Renoir's studio, was sold by Christie's for $ 8.8M on May 8, 2000, lot 27 and for $ 24.4M on May 12, 2022, lot 31C. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The gray haired widowed mother in a black mourning dress is relaxing in a chair. She looks tired although her final illness will only happen a few months later. The lovely dark haired teenager is standing behind her with a pensive smile and a large white hat. The highly realistic face of Julie may be compared with photos of her in that period.
As requested in Berthe's will, the kind and sincerely emotive Renoir became Julie's unofficial guardian after her death. Julie married in 1900 Ernest Rouart whose family owned the double portrait until the 2000 auction.
In the late 1880s she developed a mutual artistic influence with Pierre-Auguste Renoir who made in 1887 a portrait of the child Julie Manet with a round face. Renoir took Julie again as a sitter in 1894. After a few sessions, he convinced Berthe to sit also for an intimate portrait with her beloved daughter.
The double portrait, oil on canvas 81 x 66 cm painted in April 1894 in Renoir's studio, was sold by Christie's for $ 8.8M on May 8, 2000, lot 27 and for $ 24.4M on May 12, 2022, lot 31C. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The gray haired widowed mother in a black mourning dress is relaxing in a chair. She looks tired although her final illness will only happen a few months later. The lovely dark haired teenager is standing behind her with a pensive smile and a large white hat. The highly realistic face of Julie may be compared with photos of her in that period.
As requested in Berthe's will, the kind and sincerely emotive Renoir became Julie's unofficial guardian after her death. Julie married in 1900 Ernest Rouart whose family owned the double portrait until the 2000 auction.
