Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Estate of the artist

Mme Petit, Paris

Baron Michel Allard (inherited from the above)

Private Collection

Galerie Schmit, Paris

Sale: Christie's, New York, May 4, 2010, lot 72

Acquired at the above sale

Paris, Galerie Schmit, Lumières sur la peinture, XIXe-XXe siècle, 1983, no. 78, illustrated in the catalogue

Paris, Galerie Schmit, De Corot à Picasso, 1985, no. 47, illustrated in the catalogue

Bernheim-Jeune, L'Atelier de Renoir, Paris, 1931, no. 663, illustrated pl. 208

Guy-Patrice & Michel Dauberville, Renoir, vol. V, Paris, 2014, no. 4150, illustrated p. 303

Original canvas. Under UV light, a few spots of retouching to the curtain and the tree on the left of the composition. Also a tiny dot of retouching on the bottom of the horse's head and in the hair. Minute pin dot paint losses to the extreme edge on the right and left and one small dot paint in the right curtain. Overall the colors are fresh and the work is in good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The young woman featured in the present work is Renoir’s last model Andrée Heuchling (later known as Catherine Hessling). In early 1915 at the age of sixteen, she arrived at the home of Pierre-Auguste Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer along the French Riviera in the midst of World War I. At the time, Renoir was coping with debilitating arthritis and mourning the death of his wife and companion of thirty-six years, Aline. Andrée was first discovered by Renoir’s friends who hoped she would provide him with a renewed motivation to paint despite his failing condition. The artist’s youngest son, Jean Renoir (whom Andrée would later marry) recalled first meeting the young woman at his father’s estate, “She was sixteen years old, red-haired and plump, and her skin took the light better than any model that Renoir had ever had in his life. She sang, slightly off-key, the popular songs of the day; told stories about her girlfriends; was gay; and cast over my father the revivifying spell of her joyous youth. Along with the roses, which grew almost wild at Les Collettes, and the great olive trees with their silvery reflections, Andrée was one of the vital elements which helped Renoir to interpret on his canvas the tremendous cry of love he uttered at the end of his life” (Renoir, My Father, New York, 1958, p. 426).

Undoubtedly, Andrée was the breath of fresh air Renoir required; she brought beauty, gaiety and youth back into his life.  This exterior view through the window features the old town of Nice,  Andrée’s birthplace. Renoir painted over one hundred paintings of Andrée in the four short years they shared before his death in 1919. Immensely grateful for the joy and inspiration Andrée brought into Renoir’s life, he also featured her in his final masterpiece, Grandes baigneuses.