Lot 153
  • 153

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Estimate
400,000 - 600,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Pierre-Auguste Renoir
  • Fille au corset bleu (Une blonde aux yeux bleus, vue de trois quarts sur un fond jaune)
  • Signed Renoir (lower left)
  • Pastel on paper laid down on board
  • 24 1/8 by 17 5/8 in.
  • 61.4 by 44.7 cm

Provenance

Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired directly from the artist in 1902)
Albert Bernier, Paris (and sold: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, November 23, 1910, lot 48)
Sale: Christie's, New York, November 7, 2001, lot 409
Acquired at the above sale

Literature

Guy-Patrice & Michel Dauberville, Renoir, Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vol. II, Paris, 2009, no. 1438, illustrated p. 472

Condition

Executed on cream colored laid paper laid down on board. There is a very faint mat stain around the extreme perimeter as well as minor scattered nicks and stains to the sheet. There appear to be some scattered repairs around the lower right corner, as well as a horizontal repaired tear extending from the center of the right edge. No other significant tears or restoration are apparent. The work is in very good condition.
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.

Catalogue Note

Jeanne Samary, an acclaimed actress at the Comédie-Française, was Renoir’s muse from 1877 to 1880. They met at one of the elite literary salons hosted by Georges Charpentier, director of a notable Parisian publishing house, and his wife Marguerite. The artist was a regular visitor of these soirées which were also frequented by writers such as Flaubert, the Goncourts and Zola. Renoir preferred not to work with professional models, and his studio’s proximity to the actress’s own apartment led to a wonderful collaboration that resulted in several elegant portraits of Samary that reveal the startling beauty and character that held her salon audience so captive. The writer Jules Claretie remembered her vividly: “She was the muse of the Comédie; she had the smile of Marivaux, the imagination of Regnard, the wit of Molière, she was a star of contemporary art” (quoted in H. Dottrens, "Chronique Parisienne, Mme Jeanne Samary" in Le Passe-Temps, no. 40, September 28, 1890, p. 3).

By 1874, as Renoir began to acquire some renown and achieve a level of financial security, he began to experiment with pastels. Although the medium had seen an increase in popularity more generally, Renoir preferred to use it exclusively for his most intimate works—particularly where the sitters were close friends and family; using the pastels to effectively catch their “fleeting shadow of emotion” (François Daulte, Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Watercolours, Pastels and Drawings in Colour, London, 1959, p. 10).