3226 - PIERRE AUGUSTE RENOIR

PIERRE AUGUSTE RENOIR (Limoges 1841–1919 Cagnes-sur-Mer) Esquisse de paysage, femme en rouge assise. 1916. Oil on canvas. Signature stamp lower right: Renoir. 30 × 35 cm. Certificate: Wildenstein Plattner Institute, New York, 28 February 2024. Provenance: - Estate of the artist. - Claude Renoir, Paris. - Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1959, no. 374 (labels on verso). - Auction Palais Galliera, Paris, 19 June 1963, lot 70. - Private collection, Paris, acquired at the above auction. - Private collection, Paris, inherited in 2023. - Auction Thierry de Maigret, Paris, 5 April 2024, lot 171. - Private collection, Spain. Literature: - Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville: Renoir. Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, Paris 2014, vol. V, p. 143, no. 3860 (ill.). - Bernheim-Jeune (ed.): L'Atelier de Renoir, San Francisco 1989, plate 180, no. 572 (ill.). In 1907, Pierre-Auguste Renoir acquired the small estate of Les Collettes near Cagnes-sur-Mer on the Côte d’Azur. Captivated by the beauty and unspoilt character of the Provençal landscape, he had a new house built there, moving in with his family in 1908. In his final years, the extensive olive groves and lush Mediterranean vegetation became an inexhaustible source of inspiration. Painted in 1916, ‘Esquisse de paysage, femme en rouge assise’ depicts a sunlit landscape of exceptional colour. With loose, almost fluid brushstrokes, Renoir combines luminous yellows and greens with delicate shades of burgundy and dusky pink. The Mediterranean vegetation merges into a vibrant interplay of light and colour, conveying the shimmering heat and untamed vitality of Provence. In the foreground sits a woman, sketched in warm reds and whites with a few swift strokes. Lost in thought, or perhaps reading, she seems entirely at one with the natural world around her. The scene reflects Renoir's enduring fascination with the female figure, a central subject throughout his career. Even in his late landscapes, women are the principal inhabitants of this peaceful world. This also reflects the importance of women in his own life, particularly his beloved wife Aline. One of his most important models and muses, she managed the Les Collettes estate with great care and energy in his later years. * The full tax is charged on this item marked *, i.e. VAT is charged on the sum will be refunded to Purchasers providing a validly stamped export declaration.