PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR | Jeune regardant une rose

Paul Durand-Ruel, Paris (acquired directly from the artist on 28th August 1891)
Mme. de La Chapelle, Paris (acquired from the above on 26th January 1934)
Étienne Bignou, Paris
Jean Laroche, Paris
Lefèvre Gallery, London (acquired by 1935)
Mme. J.B.A. Kessler (acquired from the above by 1953)
E. J. Van Wisselingh & co., Amsterdam (acquired by 1976)
Gustave Ennik, Zurich (acquired by November 1988)
DRS. G. Valkier, Lausanne (acquired by 1989)
Sale: Christie's, London, 25th June 1990, lot 12
Private Collection (purchased at the above sale)
Private Collection, Japan (acquired from the above in 1993; sale: Sotheby’s, New York, 7^th November 2013, lot 117)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Tableaux, pastels, dessins par Renoir, 1920, no. 73 (titled Jeune femme tenant une rose)
London, Alex Reid & Lefèvre Gallery, Renoir, 1935, no. 6 (titled La femme à la rose and dated 1878)
Montreal, Scott & Sons, French Paintings, 1936, no. 15
Glasgow, Alex Reid & Lefèvre Gallery, French XIXth and XXth Century Paintings, 1937, no. 48
York, York Art Gallery & London, Wildenstein & Co., The Kessler Collection 19th & 20th French Masters in aid of the Citizens' Advice Bureaux for Greater London, 1948, no. 28 (titled Madmoiselle Samary)
Amsterdam, E.J. van Wisselingh & Co., Maitres français des XIXe et XXe siècles, Tableaux provenant de collections particulières néerlandaises, 1962, no. 43, illustrated in the catalogue (dated circa 1880)
Dauberville: Amsterdam, E.J. van Wisselingh & Co., Maîtres français des XIXe et XXe siècles, 1975, no. 31, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

H. Schrijver, 'Impressionist in the Village', House and Garden, London, 1953, illustrated p. 45
Guy-Patrice & Michel Dauberville, Renoir, Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, Paris, 2007,  vol. I, no. 642, illustated p. 603

Please note that there is a professional condition report for this work, please contact mariella.salazar@sothebys.com to request a copy.
"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.
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With its harmonious tonality, bright palette and deftly applied pastel, Jeune regardant une rose, executed in 1879-80, is a masterful portrayal of the acclaimed Comédie Française actress Jeanne Samary, whose beauty and allure earned her the status of Renoir’s celebrated muse from 1877 to 1880. Indeed, her character gave the artist such satisfaction that he described her in a letter to art critic, Théodore Duret as 'la petite Samary, who delights women, but men even more' (quoted in Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age, (exhibition catalogue), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1997, p. 161). Samary is further immortalised in one of Renoir’s most ambitious multi-figure genre paintings, Le déjeuner des canotiers in the Philips Collection in Washington D.C., gracefully draped in black, donning a flowered hat whilst engaging in conversation with journalist Paul Lhote and politician Eugène Pierre Lestringuez. Indeed, Renoir’s numerous portrayals of his muse led the art critic Georges Rivière to comment that no portrait ever gave Renoir satisfaction than the ones he painted of Samary. In turn, the actress returned her affection for the artist, lamenting, 'Renoir is not the marrying kind. He marries all the women he paints, but with his brush' (quoted in N. Wadley (ed.), Renoir: A Retrospective, New York, 1987, p. 34). In the present work, Samary is portrayed intimately in semi-déshabillé, a strap of her white chemise seductively slips off her shoulder. She is ethereally framed against an atmosphere of shadows and fluid brushstrokes, as Renoir draws on the natural variations of light to draw out Samary’s delicate beauty. She emerges from the hazy background, fleetingly captured in a space of quiet contemplation. Amidst, the beautiful granulations of colour, we are drawn to the sumptuous figure of the rose, delicately clasped in Samary’s hand. Often included to enhance the fresh and natural beauty of his female sitters, Renoir anthropomorphically juxtaposes the dainty flower to the actress, enriching the fleshy tones of her hand in a manner that heightens the rosy undertones of the sitter's complexion.

Although Samary as an actress was known for her boisterous laugh that was thought to verge on vulgarity, the artist depicts her with a quiet and delicate fascination, refashioning her image into a demure and alluring young woman: Renoir’s quintessential star. Such intimacy is characteristic of Renoir’s portraits of women, which, as Duret writes, 'catch the external features […] through them he pinpoints the model’s character and inner self. I doubt whether any painter has ever interpreted women in a more seductive manner. The deft and lively touches of Renoir’s brush are charming, supple and unrestrained, making flesh transparent and tinting the cheeks and lips with a perfect living hue. Renoir’s women are enchantresses' (quoted in 'Histoire des peintres Impressionists', Paris, 1922, pp. 27-28).



This work will be included in the forthcoming Renoir Digital Catalogue Raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc.