Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Ambroise Vollard, Paris
Sale: Christie's, New York, June 25, 1998, lot 205

Ambroise Vollard, Tableaux, pastels et dessins de Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paris, 1918, vol. II, illustrated p. 36

Canvas is lined. There are 3 tiny pinhead size dots of loss in lower right corner. Under UV light, no apparent inpainting but some original pigments fluoresce (particularly in top edge), otherwise fine.
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The genre of still-life easel painting dates back to the sixteenth-century in Western art and remains a popular subject of artists to the present day.  As the first movement toward Modern Art, the Impressionists broke away from the traditional teachings at the official Salon in Paris and organized an exhibition of their own in 1874.  Nature morte aux pommes is a striking example of still-life painting by one of the great champions of Impressionist art. Renoir took delight in painting still-lifes.  During his career as an artist, Renoir supplemented his income by painting decorative pictures and nudes when higher priced commissioned portraits slowed.

In this beautifully painted canvas, Renoir presents before the viewer a deceivingly straightforward composition.  Upon further examination, however, painterly brushstrokes merge mere smudges to create the floral-patterned wallpaper for a subtle backdrop.  This imagery is a possible reference to his novice years as a porcelain painter where he developed a passion for pure transparent color.  Although diminutive in size, Nature morte aux pommes et coings has an extraordinary amount of attention to detail reminiscent in Renoir's early oeuvre.