Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Ambroise Vollard, Paris
Renée Terrasse (Pierre Bonnard's niece)
Charles-Auguste Girard, Paris (acquired by 1963)
Acquired in 1989

Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Plaisirs de la France, 1951, no. 158 (titled Argenteuil)
Marseilles, Musée Cantini, Renoir, peintre et sculpteur, 1963, no. 22 (titled Argenteuil and dated circa 1887-1888)

Ambroise Vollard, Tableaux, pastels & dessins de Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paris, 1918, no. 55, illustrated p. 14

Work is in very good condition. Canvas has been strip lined. Surface is clean. There is a finger nail sized abrasion at the front of the boat towards lower right. Under UV light: a few small dots of inpainting at upper left corner and several dots around extreme perimeter, mostly along right edge, to address prior frame abrasion. Small area of inpainting directly above head of the figure with yellow hat. A few areas of uneven varnish also fluoresce, otherwise fine.
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.

Renoir's depictions of women and children form an important part of his oeuvre, especially in the later decades of his life.  He painted numerous canvases of his subjects in bourgeois settings such as the home, at the water's edge, and in the garden, all settings that highlighted the leisure pursuits of French middle-class families at the end of the nineteenth century.  The well-dressed children carrying hoops and balls for their promenade with their nursemaid or grouped indoors with their musical instruments and amusements reflect the growing leisure class.  In regard to a seminal portrait of Renoir's family painted in 1896, Colin Bailey notes that  "... Renoir does more than come to terms with bourgeois values – he positively embraces them, with a sureness of touch, a peerless technique, and a depth of affection and good humor that resonate and give pleasure one hundred years later and will doubtless continue to do so in the centuries to come" (Colin Bailey, Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age, New Haven, 1997, p. 43).

In the present work, however, the young woman and girl are presented not in a portrait format but instead are viewed from a slight distance, guiding their skiff in the shallow water of the Seine at Argenteuil.   Argenteuil was an important center for the Impressionists: Claude Monet lived there from 1871 until 1877.  The artists who visited the master, to discuss the artistic movement they were creating, and to work alongside him in these seminal years, included Alfred Sisley, Edouard Manet, Gustave Caillebotte, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, and Paul Cézanne as well as Renoir.  While bucolic in feel, the town was only 15 kilometers from Paris and easily visited via train from Paris's Gare Saint-Lazare station, and the views  were a great inspiration for Monet, and for Renoir as well.

Renoir positions the girls in the center of the canvas, their figures illuminated by the diffuse light of the sunset hour. The bright impasto of their clothing distinguishes them from the surrounding scene.  The vibrancy of the present work is enhanced by the contrast of the red tones dominant in the figures, which stand out against the pink, blue and green tones of the lush countryside in the background. The dappled light falling on to these figures lends a fleeting atmosphere to the work, and breathes life into the two young women.  The soft washes of color in the water and the landscape beyond emphasize the peaceful beauty of the setting. 

Fig 1. The artist, painting in 1903.

Fig 2. Claude Monet, Voilier sur le petit bras de la Seine, Argenteuil, 1872, oil on canvas, Sold, Sotheby's New York May 5, 2009, lot 18