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Lot Essay
This painting will be included in the forthcoming Renoir catalogue critique being prepared by the Wildenstein Institute and established from the archive funds of François Daulte, Durand-Ruel, Venturi, Vollard and Wildenstein.
We are grateful to Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville for confirming that this painting is included in their Bernheim-Jeune archives as an authentic work.
While Renoir is frequently associated with his portraits and nudes, he continued to work on his landscapes throughout his lifetime. Paysage à Cagnes is a light-soaked evocation of summer effectively combining landscape with human presence. This combination of a seated woman's figure in a rural riverside scene allows Renoir to explore the lushness of the various textures from the figure's pink and white dress to the rough undergrowth surrounding the trees and the smooth still surface of the river. In the present work, Renoir successfully integrates the seated woman into her surroundings with his soft palette and comparable handling of paint for both figure and foliage, heightening the sense of harmony and contented relaxation. His exceptional use of light further creates a strong feeling of warmth radiating from the canvas.
Contrary to the idealized classical construct, Renoir adopted a very sincere approach to nature, as he attempted to immerse himself within it. He did not attempt to tame it preferring instead to revel in its irregularity. 'Renoir was continuously unfolding in his perception of Nature. He consistently inquired for, discovered, selected, established, organized and expressed new pictorial effects, connections, relationships, values and meanings, all reflecting a wide field of painting Renoir could paint the very same spot of landscape a number of times and each version would reveal an essentially different ramification of his spirit and feelings' (A.C. Barnes & V. de Mazia, Renoir, A Retrospective, exh. cat., New York, 1987, p. 339).
We are grateful to Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville for confirming that this painting is included in their Bernheim-Jeune archives as an authentic work.
While Renoir is frequently associated with his portraits and nudes, he continued to work on his landscapes throughout his lifetime. Paysage à Cagnes is a light-soaked evocation of summer effectively combining landscape with human presence. This combination of a seated woman's figure in a rural riverside scene allows Renoir to explore the lushness of the various textures from the figure's pink and white dress to the rough undergrowth surrounding the trees and the smooth still surface of the river. In the present work, Renoir successfully integrates the seated woman into her surroundings with his soft palette and comparable handling of paint for both figure and foliage, heightening the sense of harmony and contented relaxation. His exceptional use of light further creates a strong feeling of warmth radiating from the canvas.
Contrary to the idealized classical construct, Renoir adopted a very sincere approach to nature, as he attempted to immerse himself within it. He did not attempt to tame it preferring instead to revel in its irregularity. 'Renoir was continuously unfolding in his perception of Nature. He consistently inquired for, discovered, selected, established, organized and expressed new pictorial effects, connections, relationships, values and meanings, all reflecting a wide field of painting Renoir could paint the very same spot of landscape a number of times and each version would reveal an essentially different ramification of his spirit and feelings' (A.C. Barnes & V. de Mazia, Renoir, A Retrospective, exh. cat., New York, 1987, p. 339).