Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Bernard Dorival, Paris
Fritzes Konsthandel, Stockholm (acquired by 1926)
Thorsten Laurins, Stockholm (acquired from the above)
Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York
Grover A. & Jeanne J. Mangin, San Francisco (acquired from the above and sold: Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, October 15, 1969, lot 7)
Samuel J. & Ethel LeFrak, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Thence by descent

Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, Föreningen Fransk Konst, Auguste Renoir utställning, 1921, no. 51
Stockholm, Liljevalchs konsthall, Fransk Konst i Svensk privat ägo, 1926, no. 555
New York, Wildenstein & Co., Renoir. In Commemoration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of Renoir's Death, 1969, no. 12

Ragnar Hoppe, Katalog över Thorsten Laurins samling av måleri och skulptur, Stockholm, 1936, no. 452, illustrated pl. 246
John Rewald, "Chocquet and Cézanne" in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, July-Aug. 1969, fig. 6, illustrated p. 41
Elda Fezzi, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Renoir, période impressioniste 1869-1883, Paris, 1985, no. 70, illustrated p. 92
Guy-Patrice & Michel Dauberville, Renoir, Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, 1858-1881, vol. I, Paris, 2007, no. 184, illustrated p. 233

This work is in good condition. The canvas has been relined. There is some frame abrasion and minor paint loss around the periphery of the canvas. There is some light scattered fine cracqelure most notably in the center of the foreground, and in the peach tones in the center right of the composition. There is a slightly yellowed layer of varnish. Under UV light: there is evidence of retouching along all four edges of the canvas, consistent with frame abrasion. The varnish obscures further reading.
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 1873, Renoir moved to the rue Saint Georges, which offered him close access to a number of public squares and parks. In the following years, between 1874 and 1876, he was afforded the opportunity to capture the modern city life in a brilliant series of cityscapes. Here, with a freedom of paint handling, quick dabs of color and bright palette, Renoir depicts strolling Parisians in the Tuileries Garden, instilling them with a sense of fleeting impressions, rather than stoically memorializing them as static bystanders frozen in time.

By this time Monet and Renoir had become close friends, and they had been working together to develop their Impressionist aesthetic. Renoir particularly admired Monet’s technique: “In April 1874, Renoir began to show a strong attachment to Monet and his pioneering passion for the landscape and, more generally, the plein air painting tradition—interests that Renoir would begin to explore as well through a series of portraits and landscapes which commemorated Monet and his family at Argenteuil. Monet exercised a crucial influence on the pictorial language of Renoir after 1873” (Colin B. Bailey in Renoir Landscapes 1865-1883 (exhibition catalogue), National Gallery, London, 2007, p. 53).

Le Jardin des Tuileries was previously owned by Thorsten Laurin, one of the most prominent collectors of modern art during the early twentieth century in Scandinavia.