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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.
This work will be included in volume V of the catalogue raisonné des Tableaux, Pastels, Dessins et Aquarelles de Pierre-Auguste Renoir being prepared by Guy-Patrice and Floriane Dauberville published by Editions Bernheim-Jeune.
Painted in 1915, Paysage de Cagnes belongs to a series of bold, experimental landscape paintings Auguste Renoir executed in the early 1900s. Inspired by the countryside surrounding his newly built home at Les Collettes, Paysage de Cagnes portrays the sunbathed vegetation of the French Mediterranean coast. In its immediacy and freedom of execution, Paysage de Cagnes almost borders on abstraction: with a few strokes of paint and a carefully orchestrated balance of blues and greens with reds and oranges, Renoir managed to capture the vivid presence of a southern, idyllic landscape. Works such as Paysage de Cagnes, would prove influential for a new generation of artists: Henri Matisse, who visited the artist in 1918, wrote back to his wife: ‘I have just come back from Renoir’s house where I have seen some marvellous paintings’ (H. Matisse, quoted in Renoir au XX siècle, exh. cat., Paris, 2009, p. 381).
Landscapes such as Paysage de Cagnes were seen by Renoir as important experiments which would enhance his understanding of colours and light. During the 1900s, Renoir had worked on an important group of paintings depicting female figures: voluptuous and often in the nude, those figures had encouraged the artist to explore a new range of reds, oranges and yellows which would characterise his production of the period. Landscape, however, had provided Renoir with an arena in which he dared to experiment more boldly with his paint: ‘Landscape is useful for a figure painter’, Renoir affirmed. ‘In the open air, one feels encouraged to put on the canvas tones that one couldn’t imagine in the subdued light of the studio’ (quoted in M. Lucy, J. House, Renoir in the Barnes Foundation, New Haven and London, 2012, p. 217). Surpassing the great legacy of Impressionism, works such as Paysage de Cagnes are a testament to Renoir’s heroic perseverance, as – towards the end of his career – he kept exploring the limits of paint, producing innovative, bold landscapes.
This work will be included in volume V of the catalogue raisonné des Tableaux, Pastels, Dessins et Aquarelles de Pierre-Auguste Renoir being prepared by Guy-Patrice and Floriane Dauberville published by Editions Bernheim-Jeune.
Painted in 1915, Paysage de Cagnes belongs to a series of bold, experimental landscape paintings Auguste Renoir executed in the early 1900s. Inspired by the countryside surrounding his newly built home at Les Collettes, Paysage de Cagnes portrays the sunbathed vegetation of the French Mediterranean coast. In its immediacy and freedom of execution, Paysage de Cagnes almost borders on abstraction: with a few strokes of paint and a carefully orchestrated balance of blues and greens with reds and oranges, Renoir managed to capture the vivid presence of a southern, idyllic landscape. Works such as Paysage de Cagnes, would prove influential for a new generation of artists: Henri Matisse, who visited the artist in 1918, wrote back to his wife: ‘I have just come back from Renoir’s house where I have seen some marvellous paintings’ (H. Matisse, quoted in Renoir au XX siècle, exh. cat., Paris, 2009, p. 381).
Landscapes such as Paysage de Cagnes were seen by Renoir as important experiments which would enhance his understanding of colours and light. During the 1900s, Renoir had worked on an important group of paintings depicting female figures: voluptuous and often in the nude, those figures had encouraged the artist to explore a new range of reds, oranges and yellows which would characterise his production of the period. Landscape, however, had provided Renoir with an arena in which he dared to experiment more boldly with his paint: ‘Landscape is useful for a figure painter’, Renoir affirmed. ‘In the open air, one feels encouraged to put on the canvas tones that one couldn’t imagine in the subdued light of the studio’ (quoted in M. Lucy, J. House, Renoir in the Barnes Foundation, New Haven and London, 2012, p. 217). Surpassing the great legacy of Impressionism, works such as Paysage de Cagnes are a testament to Renoir’s heroic perseverance, as – towards the end of his career – he kept exploring the limits of paint, producing innovative, bold landscapes.