.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This work will be included in the forthcoming Pierre-Auguste Renoir Digital Catalogue Raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc.
‘[Renoir] is the true painter of young women, he renders, in this sparkling sunshine, the sheen of their tender skin, the velvet of their flesh, the lustre of their eyes, the elegance of their toilettes…’ (J.K. Huysmans, 'The Independents’ Exhibition of 1882', in L’Art Moderne, quoted in Renoir: A Retrospective, p. 156)
Painted in 1882, Tête de jeune fille dates from a key period of transition within Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s career, as he began to seek a more classical aesthetic in his art, driven by the revelatory experiences he enjoyed during his first trip to Italy in 1881. It was at the beginning of that year that the pioneering Impressionist dealer Paul Durand-Ruel had begun to purchase Renoir’s work, granting the artist a new level of professional and financial security, which in turn enabled him to travel abroad for the first time. In the spring of 1881 he ventured to North Africa, following in the footsteps of Delacroix as he sought to add a new sense of exoticism and richness of colour to his paintings. That autumn, meanwhile, was spent touring the great cities of Italy, with the artist visiting Venice, Florence and Rome, before continuing south to Naples. It was during this journey that Renoir fell completely under the spell of the Renaissance masters, with the frescoes of Raphael at the Villa Farnesina and the antique murals of Pompeii proving to be of particular inspiration. These experiences left an indelible mark on Renoir’s oeuvre, opening his eyes to ‘the grandeur and simplicity of the ancient painters’ (Renoir, quoted in exh. cat., Renoir, London, Paris & Boston, 1985-1986, p. 220). Struck by the informal grace, beauty and monumentality of these images, Renoir returned to Paris in 1882 re-invigorated. He quickly began to experiment with new subject matter and painterly techniques, absorbing the lessons of his studies in Italy and translating them into his unique visual language.
Focusing on the sensuous curves of a young model as she stands, half-undressed, before the artist, Tête de jeune fille reflects the artist’s growing interest in the nude female body during this period, a theme which would come to dominate his oeuvre for the rest of his career. For Renoir, the female nude offered a pathway to exploring the intricate relationships of colour, paint and brushwork in the creation of form. Studying the bodies of his models in a variety of positions, scenarios and guises, the artist developed a keen appreciation of the ways in which varying effects of light and movement could dramatically alter the colour patterns of his subject’s skin. Over the course of his studies during the 1880s, Renoir began to grow increasingly interested in the tactility of his sitter’s flesh, drawing inspiration from the art of Titian, Rubens and Velázquez, as he sought a way of expressing a sense of touch through visual means alone. As he explained: ‘I don’t feel a nude is done until I can reach out and pinch it’ (quoted in M. Lucy & J. House, eds., Renoir in the Barnes Foundation, New Haven & London, 2012 p. 209). In the present work, Renoir achieves this impression with a high degree of skill, capturing the warmth and texture of his model’s skin through a subtle layering of opalescent colour. Depicting his model using a constellation of soft, feathery brushstrokes, Renoir captures the nuances of colour in her body in a delicate interplay of pale mauves, creams and pink tones that creates a shimmering, lustrous surface that seems to evoke the fluttering passage of light as it crosses her soft, supple skin.
This heightened sense of tactility and intense focus on the model’s curvaceous form lends the composition a distinctly sensual atmosphere. Captured in profile, the young woman twists her body slightly away from the viewer, allowing the sleeve of her dress to slip seductively off her shoulder, revealing the elegant curve of her neck and collarbone in the process. The stillness of her pose is balanced by a subtle tension that fills her body, a detail that seems to indicate her deep focus and concentration as she holds herself in place for Renoir. Glancing out of the corner of her eye towards the artist, the woman almost seems to be checking that he is happy with her positioning, returning his gaze with equal intensity. This, combined with the close framing of the young woman’s face, lends the scene an unusual intimacy, emphasising not only the close proximity of Renoir to his model, but also the relationship that existed between the two in the moment of the painting’s creation. One can almost feel the connection between the artist and his sitter, as he studies the gentle curves of her form, the play of light on her skin, and the luminous shine of her dark hair as it falls down her back in an elegant braid.
An enchanting celebration of youthful beauty, this charming portrait also highlights Renoir’s desire to convey the physical presence of his sitter. He often expressed his wish to make his viewers feel as if they could reach out and ‘stroke a breast or a back’ (Renoir, quoted in J. House, ‘Renoir’s Worlds,’ in op. cit., p. 16). Here, the model’s flesh and hair are densely worked with a plethora of soft, short brushstrokes that lend her body a palpable weight and solidity, her plump arms and torso carefully delineated in an intricate play of shadow and light to lend them a new monumentality. The sitter’s facial features are similarly finely detailed, her profile rendered in a flowing, sinuous line, while the rosy flush of her cheeks and radiant complexion capture her youthful vitality. Eschewing any signs of contemporary Parisian life in both his sitter’s appearance and the setting, Renoir aligns himself with the Renaissance masters he so admired on his journey to Italy, creating a timeless scene that focuses on the pure beauty of the young woman before him.
‘[Renoir] is the true painter of young women, he renders, in this sparkling sunshine, the sheen of their tender skin, the velvet of their flesh, the lustre of their eyes, the elegance of their toilettes…’ (J.K. Huysmans, 'The Independents’ Exhibition of 1882', in L’Art Moderne, quoted in Renoir: A Retrospective, p. 156)
Painted in 1882, Tête de jeune fille dates from a key period of transition within Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s career, as he began to seek a more classical aesthetic in his art, driven by the revelatory experiences he enjoyed during his first trip to Italy in 1881. It was at the beginning of that year that the pioneering Impressionist dealer Paul Durand-Ruel had begun to purchase Renoir’s work, granting the artist a new level of professional and financial security, which in turn enabled him to travel abroad for the first time. In the spring of 1881 he ventured to North Africa, following in the footsteps of Delacroix as he sought to add a new sense of exoticism and richness of colour to his paintings. That autumn, meanwhile, was spent touring the great cities of Italy, with the artist visiting Venice, Florence and Rome, before continuing south to Naples. It was during this journey that Renoir fell completely under the spell of the Renaissance masters, with the frescoes of Raphael at the Villa Farnesina and the antique murals of Pompeii proving to be of particular inspiration. These experiences left an indelible mark on Renoir’s oeuvre, opening his eyes to ‘the grandeur and simplicity of the ancient painters’ (Renoir, quoted in exh. cat., Renoir, London, Paris & Boston, 1985-1986, p. 220). Struck by the informal grace, beauty and monumentality of these images, Renoir returned to Paris in 1882 re-invigorated. He quickly began to experiment with new subject matter and painterly techniques, absorbing the lessons of his studies in Italy and translating them into his unique visual language.
Focusing on the sensuous curves of a young model as she stands, half-undressed, before the artist, Tête de jeune fille reflects the artist’s growing interest in the nude female body during this period, a theme which would come to dominate his oeuvre for the rest of his career. For Renoir, the female nude offered a pathway to exploring the intricate relationships of colour, paint and brushwork in the creation of form. Studying the bodies of his models in a variety of positions, scenarios and guises, the artist developed a keen appreciation of the ways in which varying effects of light and movement could dramatically alter the colour patterns of his subject’s skin. Over the course of his studies during the 1880s, Renoir began to grow increasingly interested in the tactility of his sitter’s flesh, drawing inspiration from the art of Titian, Rubens and Velázquez, as he sought a way of expressing a sense of touch through visual means alone. As he explained: ‘I don’t feel a nude is done until I can reach out and pinch it’ (quoted in M. Lucy & J. House, eds., Renoir in the Barnes Foundation, New Haven & London, 2012 p. 209). In the present work, Renoir achieves this impression with a high degree of skill, capturing the warmth and texture of his model’s skin through a subtle layering of opalescent colour. Depicting his model using a constellation of soft, feathery brushstrokes, Renoir captures the nuances of colour in her body in a delicate interplay of pale mauves, creams and pink tones that creates a shimmering, lustrous surface that seems to evoke the fluttering passage of light as it crosses her soft, supple skin.
This heightened sense of tactility and intense focus on the model’s curvaceous form lends the composition a distinctly sensual atmosphere. Captured in profile, the young woman twists her body slightly away from the viewer, allowing the sleeve of her dress to slip seductively off her shoulder, revealing the elegant curve of her neck and collarbone in the process. The stillness of her pose is balanced by a subtle tension that fills her body, a detail that seems to indicate her deep focus and concentration as she holds herself in place for Renoir. Glancing out of the corner of her eye towards the artist, the woman almost seems to be checking that he is happy with her positioning, returning his gaze with equal intensity. This, combined with the close framing of the young woman’s face, lends the scene an unusual intimacy, emphasising not only the close proximity of Renoir to his model, but also the relationship that existed between the two in the moment of the painting’s creation. One can almost feel the connection between the artist and his sitter, as he studies the gentle curves of her form, the play of light on her skin, and the luminous shine of her dark hair as it falls down her back in an elegant braid.
An enchanting celebration of youthful beauty, this charming portrait also highlights Renoir’s desire to convey the physical presence of his sitter. He often expressed his wish to make his viewers feel as if they could reach out and ‘stroke a breast or a back’ (Renoir, quoted in J. House, ‘Renoir’s Worlds,’ in op. cit., p. 16). Here, the model’s flesh and hair are densely worked with a plethora of soft, short brushstrokes that lend her body a palpable weight and solidity, her plump arms and torso carefully delineated in an intricate play of shadow and light to lend them a new monumentality. The sitter’s facial features are similarly finely detailed, her profile rendered in a flowing, sinuous line, while the rosy flush of her cheeks and radiant complexion capture her youthful vitality. Eschewing any signs of contemporary Parisian life in both his sitter’s appearance and the setting, Renoir aligns himself with the Renaissance masters he so admired on his journey to Italy, creating a timeless scene that focuses on the pure beauty of the young woman before him.