Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired from the artist on 14th February 1881)

Paul de Kuyper, The Hague (acquired from the above on 14th October 1881)

Jacques Michel de Zoubaloff, Paris (acquired from the above. Sold: Galerie Georges Petit, Vente Zoubaloff, 17th June 1927, lot 153)

Josse Hessel, Paris (purchased at the above sale)

Jeanne Lanvin, Paris (acquired from the above)

Comtesse Jean de Polignac, Paris (by descent from the above)

Private Collection, Paris

Galerie Daniel Malingue, Paris (acquired from the above)

Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1981

François Daulte, Auguste Renoir, Catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre peint, Les Figures, 1860-1890, Lausanne, 1971, vol. I, no. 234, illustrated

Elda Fezzi, L'opera completa di Renoir nel periodo impressionista 1869-1883, Milan, 1972, no. 285, illustrated p. 101

Guy-Patrice & Michel Dauberville, Renoir, Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, Paris, 2007, vol. I, no. 449, illustrated p. 458

The canvas is unlined. There is no evidence of retouching visible under ultra-violet light. There are some fine, stable lines of craquelure in the sitter's hair. Apart from a few very minor losses to an area of thick impasto in the background, this work is in very good condition. Colours: Overall less warm in the printed catalogue illustration, the background has a more green tonality and there is more detail in the darker pigment.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Painted in 1877, Portrait de Margot was executed during a crucial period in Renoir’s career. Exquisitely composed and executed in deft, descriptive brush-strokes, the present work shows the artist at the height of his powers. The leading portraitist of the Impressionist movement, Renoir's attention to the effects of light and colour were almost uniquely concentrated on the subject of female beauty. Colin B. Bailey has written extensively on the portraiture of Renoir, and notes that those of the 1870s were exceptionally well-received by the Parisian avant-garde, including the critic Georges Rivière: ‘Although Georges Rivière would later claim that Renoir disliked painting portraits, even of pretty women, in April of 1877, at the time of his closest involvement with the artist, he is found advertising the painter's talents to female readers of the newly launched journal, L'Impressionniste, urging the wives of good Republicans to overcome their husbands' resistance and commission Renoir to paint “a ravishing portrait that will capture every ounce of your charm”’ (Colin B. Bailey, Renoir's Portraits, Impressions of an Age (exhibition catalogue), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1997, p. 4).

In the late 1870s Renoir positioned himself at the centre of the burgeoning Impressionist movement, and as such he sat on a committee with his fellow painters Monet, Pissarro and Caillebotte which sought to command the attention of collectors and critics by organising exhibitions and auctions of their work. As Barbara Ehrlich White comments: ‘Renoir was a leader in planning and implementing this third Impressionist show. On 24th February 1877, Guillaumin wrote to Dr. Gachet from Paris: “The exhibition should take place on 1st April […] by writing to Renoir, 35 rue St. Georges, you would have all the possible information, since that’s where the exhibition is being prepared.” […] Renoir did not merely lend his studio as the headquarters for the complex organisation: he and Caillebotte sent out the invitations to the participants’ (B. E. White, Renoir, his Life, Art and Letters, New York, 1984, p. 74).

The sitter for the present work was one of Renoir’s favourite models Marguerite Legrand, called Margot. It belongs to a series of three paintings executed in 1877 which show Margot in profile: a larger version entitled La Liseuse (fig. 1) shows her reading a book, while another composition depicts her accompanied by the artist’s brother, Edmond, who was a journalist. Margot first met the artist in 1875 and she became his chief muse during the late 1870s, sitting for the La Conversation (1878, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, fig. 2) and Chez la Modiste (1878, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts), as well as posing as one of the dancers in La bal du Moulin de la Galette (fig. 3). Little is known about Margot, but it has been suggested that the four year association was perhaps marked by a romantic as well as professional relationship. Tragically, Margot died in February 1879, despite being attended by the eminent Doctors Gachet and de Bellio – who were incidentally collectors of Renoir’s art. The medical costs were defrayed by the artist himself, and he also gave eight works of art to provide for the education of her son Georges. In his biography of his father, Jean Renoir recalled: 'My father spoke of her to me several times. Margot was very ill. He asked Gachet to treat her. The doctor did the best he could for her, but to no avail. Margot's suffering brought the two men together, and they spent many hours at her bedside. She must have been very beautiful, very touching and very courageous' (J. Renoir, Renoir, My Father, London, 1964, p. 295).

The numerous masterpieces that she sat for possess a special tenderness and personal characterisation, and as Barbara Ehrlich White writes: ‘his strong reaction to her illness and death in 1879 suggests that they were lovers. This would explain why the theme of romance blossoms in his paintings from 1875 on, as in The Lovers [Národní Galerie, Prague] and Confidences [Sammlung Oskar Reinhart ‘Am Römerholz’, Winterthur]. Margot also posed affectionately in Woman with a Cat [National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.]’ (B. E. White, ibid., p. 51).