Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) and Richard Guino (1890-1973)

Paul Haesaerts, Renoir Sculptor, New York, 1947, p. 25, discussed

Paul Haesaerts describes Renoir's process in creating the Large Venus (see: Paul Haesaerts, Renoir Sculpture, op. cit., pls.XIV-XXI) and the attempt to make a cement model : "The Large Venus is the statue on which Renoir worked the most. It is also the only one whose surface is finished with complete precision. It is the most consummate and the most complex of his sculptures (...). No sooner was it finished that Vollard proceeded to have it cast in bronze. Claude Renoir and Guino also tried to make a copy in cement, which Renoir wanted polychromed if it turned out well. But each of the parts, being separately moulded, got somewhat out of shape and it was not possible to fit the pieces together" (P. Haesaerts, op. cit., p. 25). Michel Guino, the son of Richard Guino, identified the present work as the head of the Large Standing Venus version in cement.