Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Estate of the artist
Private Collection, Switzerland
Opera Gallery, Paris
Acquired from the above

Bernheim-Jeune, ed., L’Atelier de Renoir, vol. I, Paris, 1931, no. 212, illustrated pl. 69
Guy-Patrice & Michel Dauberville, Renoir, Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, 1895-1902, vol. III, Paris, 2010, no. 1893, illustrated p. 119

The canvas is unlined. It is gently buckling in its stretcher. When examined under UV light, there is no evidence of repainting or retouching to the surface. The varnish is yellowing and a little dirty, the work would benefit from a light clean. The painting is in very good original condition.
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Paysage de bord de mer is a serene and evocative vision which embodies the fresh spontaneity of Renoir’s later plein-air painting. Painted in 1900, the present work depicts a lush landscape in the southern Mediterranean with rich green foliage, feathery vibrant brushstrokes and a tranquil ocean blue horizon. Unlike Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet who often depicted laborers in landscapes, Renoir preferred to focus on scenes and sites of leisure. Discussing Renoir’s landscapes from this at this time and how they helped to shape the rest of his career, John House comments that Renoir’s paintings of this period were characterized by a, "softer more supple handling... This harmonious interrelation of man and nature became a central theme in Renoir’s late work" (Renoir (exhibition catalogue), Hayward Gallery, London; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris & Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1985-86, p. 262).