Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Galerie Renou et Colle, Paris
Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd., London (acquired from the above in 1935)
Sir Hugh Walpole, England, (acquired from the above in 1935)
Lord Ivor Churchill, England
Sam Salz, Inc., New York (acquired by 1956)
William Appleton Coolidge, Boston (acquired from the above in 1957)
Thence by descent (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 10, 2000, lot 118)
Sale: Christie's, London, February 5, 2002, lot 119
Acquired at the above sale

London, Tate Gallery, 1947
London, Lefevre Gallery, Renoir, 1948, no. 67
London, Lefevre Gallery, 19th Century French Masters, 1949
Minneapolis, Institute of the Arts, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1956
Guernsey, Museum and Art Gallery, Renoir 1841-1919: Artist in Guernsey, 1988, no. 12, illustrated in the catalogue
Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, The William Appleton Coolidge Collection, 1995, no. 49, illustrated in the catalogue

Bernheim-Jeune, ed., L'Atelier de Renoir, vol. 1, Paris, 1931, no. 11, illustrated pl. 5

In excellent condition. The canvas is unlined. The surface is clean and retains a rich impasto. There are a few very thin hairline cracks in the thickest pigment along the lower edge of the upper horizontal stretcher bar (2 inches down form the top edge). There are a few other small cracks visible in the water (upper right), and in the rock (lower left) This cracking is very minor and consistent with the age of the picture. Under UV There are several pin-head sized dots of inpainting along the lower edge and near upper center edge. 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.

In the late summer of 1883 Renoir spent a little over a month on the island of Guernsey. He painted approximately fifteen pictures on the island, all depicting views of the bay and beach of Moulin Huet, at the east end of the rocky southern coast within walking distance of his lodgings at St. Peter Port. The works he produced there are varied in theme: panoramic views from the track leading down to the bay, scenes with groups of figures among the rocks on the beach, and simpler sketches of rocks and sea. Garçons nus dans les rochers à Guernsey is a testament to Renoir's artistic development. The artist was moving away from such explicitly contemporary subjects and direct work from the natural scene, in favor of a more generalized vision of the human figure within nature.

 

In a letter written from Guernsey to his dealer, Paul Durand-Ruel, Renoir wrote enthusiastically: "I've found myself a charming beach here which is quite unlike our Normandy beaches [...] they bathe here among the rocks, which serve as cabins since there is nothing else. This mixture of men and women clustered on the rocks is charming. It feels more like being in a Watteau landscape than being in the real world. So I have a source of motifs that are real, graceful and which may be of use to me" (quoted in N. Wadley, ed., Renoir - A Retrospective, New York, 1987).