Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Georges Bernheim, Paris (and sold: Galerie Jean Charpentier, Paris, June 7, 1935, lot 23)
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York (acquired by 1944)
Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, Inc., New York
Private Collection, New York (acquired from the above in 1990)
Acquired from the above

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Aquarelles, pastels et dessins par Renoir, 1921, no. 59
New York, Museum of Modern Art, Modern Drawings, 1944, n.n.
San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Art, Renoir, 1955, n.n.
New York, Charles E. Slatkin Galleries, Degas, Renoir, 1958, no. 57

John Rewald, Renoir Drawings, New York, 1946, no. 82, illustrated n.p.
Guy-Patrice & Michel Dauberville, Renoir, Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vol. III, Paris, 2010, no. 2493, illustrated p. 460 (with incorrect medium)

Executed on cream coloured laid paper which has been laid down on board. There is mat staining to the entire periphery of the sheet, approximately 1/2 in. in width. There are a number of pinholes along the edges of the sheet. There is minor uniform time staining to the paper and some studio surface dirt. The medium is fresh and strong, the work is very 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.

In the spring of 1885 Renoir's mistress Aline Charigot, who later bacame his wife, gave birth to the couple's first child, Pierre. This event transformed the artist's life and art. From that point forward, scenes of domestic bliss became a principal subject in his oeuvre. According to Jean Renoir, "The birth of my brother Pierre was to cause a definite revolution in Renoir's life. The theories aired at Nouvelles Athènes were now made to seem unimportant by the dimples in a baby's bottom. As he eagerly sketched his son, in order to remain true to himself, he concentrated on rendering the velvety flesh of the child; and from this very submission, Renoir began to rebuild his inner world" (Jean Renoir, Renoir, My Father, Boston, 1958, p. 250).

Renoir's third son, Claude was born in August 1901 in Essoyes. By this time the artist was sixty years old and in increasingly poor health. The birth of Claude brought him great joy, for he saw the baby's growth and health as an affirmation of life. The present work, executed nearer to the end of Renoir's life, suggests that the artist is again finding hope and vitality in depicting the rosy flesh of an infant. The tenderness of youth is quietly captured by a father, and the cyclical nature of life is clearly understood by the aging artist. As Renoir himself remarked of these youthful works, "it's such a lovely subject... I am working for myself and myself alone" (quoted in Colin B. Bailey, ed., Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age, New Haven & London, 1997, p. 224).