Madame Henriot

c. 1876

Auguste Renoir

Artist, French, 1841 - 1919

Shown from the hips up, a pale-skinned young woman wearing a white dress sits smiling gently at us in this vertical portrait painting. Blended strokes of pearl white, cool green, and muted blue create an overall soft, almost blurred look. The woman’s body is angled to our left, but she turns her face to look at us with brown eyes under dark, curved brows. She has a heart-shaped face with rosy cheeks, a thin, short nose, and full, pink lips, which are closed in a smile. Her honey-blond hair is swept up and back, but a few tendrils curl on her forehead and the nape of her neck. The neckline of her sleeveless white dress is cut low. The bodice fits tightly to a narrow waist, and a sprig of flowers is suggested by a few strokes of fern green and bright white at the center of the chest. A pale blue collar or ruffled band encircles her neck like a choker. Her hands rest together in her lap, and a white cloth loops over her forearms. The background is painted with loose strokes of powder blue and sage green against the off-white of the canvas, which is visible in some areas, especially along the left edge. The artist signed the painting near the woman’s elbow to our left, “Renoir.”

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of the Adele R. Levy Fund, Inc.

  • Dimensions

    painted surface: 65.8 x 49.5 cm (25 7/8 x 19 1/2 in.)
    stretcher size: 68.8 x 53.6 cm (27 1/16 x 21 1/8 in.)
    framed: 102.9 x 87 cm (40 1/2 x 34 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1961.3.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Possibly Doctor Vaucaire, Paris. Possibly Mme Berne-Bellecour, Paris.[1] Probably Dr. Georges de Bellio [1828-1894], Paris; probably by inheritance to M et Mme [she, née Victorine de Bellio, 1863-1958] Ernest Donop de Monchy, Paris; sold probably 1906 to Alexandre Berthier [1883-1918], 4th Prince de Wagram, Paris;[2] probably by inheritance to his sister, Élisabeth Marguerite, Princesse de La Tour d'Auvergne-Lauraguais, Paris; sold by Wagram heirs though (Canadeesche Hypothek Bank) through (Étienne Bignou, Paris) to (Alex Reid & Lefèvre, London); on joint account with (M. Knoedler & Co., London, New York and Paris) and (Marcel Kapferer); sold September 1929 to Baron Maurice de Rothschild [1881-1957], Paris.[3] (Paul Rosenberg et Cie., Paris), by 1934.[4] Acquired by 1941 by Dr. David M. [1892-1977] and Adele Rosenwald [1892-1960] Levy, New York;[5] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] Vaucaire and Mme Berne-Bellecour according to the he Bignou albums at the documentation center of the Musée d'Orsay (copy in NGA curatorial files). The latter is possibly the wife of the artisit Eitenne Prosper Berne-Bellecour [1838-1910].
[2] According to Léa Saint-Raymond, Monchy seems to have commissioned a Madame Bresnard, the mother of architect Alfred-Jean Besnard, to sell the portrait; she contacted Berthier, and when he was slow to decide, the dealer Edouard Jonas, who was also interested in acquiring the painting, demanded on 13 March 1906 that Berthier inform Mme Bresnard of his decision. This spurred Berthier to purchase it. See Saint-Raymond, “Coulisses et Ficelles du Métier: Dans les Pas du Prince de Wagram,” Alice Ensabella, et al., Histoire des galeries d’art en France du XIXe au XXIe siècle, Paris: 2024: 144. See also Saint-Raymond and Hadrien Viraben, "Alexandre Berthier, the 4th Prince de Wagram: documentation on his collection (1904-1917)", 2019, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/TIFXCH, Harvard Dataverse, V1.
[3] Reid & Lefèvre Paintings Sold, sheet no. 211, #28/29 B1424 gives acquisition source and partial share information (Lefèvre archives, Hyman Kreitman Research Centre, Tate Britain, London, TGA 2002/11, Box 283).
[4] Reproduced in Carroll Carstairs, Postscript to Criticism, London, 1934, crediting Paul Rosenberg.
[4] The painting was lent by Dr. and Mrs. Levy to a 1941 exhibition in New York.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1941

  • Renoir: Centennial Loan Exhibition 1841-1941 Duveen Galleries, New York, 1941, no. 19.

1944

  • Corot to Picasso. The American British Art Center, New York, 1944, no. 15, repro.

1946

  • Paintings from New York Private Collections, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1946, unnumbered catalogue.

1986

  • Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 1986, no. 29, repro.

1994

  • Paris in 1874: The Year of Impressionism, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1994, no. 43, repro.

1997

  • Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; The Art Institute of Chicago; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, 1997-1998, no. 20, repro.

1999

  • Renoir: Modern Eyes, Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, Sakura; The Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, 1999, no. 3, repro.

2005

  • Renoir's Women, Columbus (Ohio) Museum of Art, 2005-2006, fig. 22.

2009

  • Renoir: Promise of Happiness, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, 2009, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2010

  • Renoir: Tradition and Innovation, The National Art Center, Tokyo; The National Museum of Art, Osaka, 2010, no. 3, repro.

2011

  • Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 43, repro.

2013

  • Renoir and Painters of the Twentieth Century: His Influence on the Avant-garde in Paris, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2013, no. 23, fig. 2.

  • Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016, pl. 37.

Bibliography

1933

  • Roger-Marx, Claude. Renoir. Paris, 1933:29.

1934

  • Carstairs, Carroll. Postscript to Criticism. London, 1934:repro. plate XIII.

1935

  • Bertram, Anthony. August Renoir. London, 1935: repro. plate V.

  • Barnes, Albert C. and Violette de Mazia. The Art of Renoir. New York, 1935: no. 69, repro.

1941

  • Art News 40, no. 15 (15 November 1940): cover repro.

1950

  • Pach, Walter. Pierre Auguste Renoir. New York, 1950: 54, repro.

1952

  • Fox, Milton S. Renoir. New York, 1952: 4, repro. plate 7.

1954

  • Rouart, Denis. Renoir. Geneva, 1954:42, 46.

1961

  • Fosca, François. Renoir, His Life and Work. London, 1961: repro. 69.

  • The Mrs. Adele R. Levy Collecton - A Memorial Exhibition. Exh. cat. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1961:repro. 13.

1962

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 164, color repro.

  • Leymarie, Jean. French Painting: The Nineteenth Century. Geneva, 1962:193.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 324, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 112.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:446, color repro.

  • The Women I Love: These Lovely Immigrants Are Part of Our National Treasure.” This Week Magazine (January 9, 1966): 10, color repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 100, repro.

1971

  • Daulte, Francois. Auguste Renoir, catalogue raisonne de l'oeuvre peint. Vol.I. Figures 1860-1890. Lausanne, 1971: no. 190

1973

  • Fischel, Lilli. "Von der Bildform der französischen Impressionisten." Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 15 (1973): 113, repro.

1974

  • Fouchet, Max-Pol. Les Nus de Renoir. Paris and Lausanne, 1974:118.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 294, repro.

1976

  • Gaunt, William. Renoir. Oxford, 1976: repro. 19.

1978

  • Martini, Alberto. Renoir. New York, 1978: repro. plate XXXI.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 462, no. 671, color repro.

  • White, Barbara Ehrlich. Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters. New York, 1984:57, repro. 61.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 337, repro.

  • Fezzi, Elda. L'opera complete di Renoir nel period impressionista 1869-1883. Paris, 1985:no.212, repro.

1997

  • Mittler, Gene A., and Rosalind Ragans. Understanding Art. New York, 1997: fig. 14-6.

2007

  • Dauberville, Guy-Patrice, and Michel Dauberville. Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles. 5 vols. Paris, 2007: 1:no. 419.

2024

  • Léa Saint-Raymond, “Coulisses et Ficelles du Métier: Dans les Pas du Prince de Wagram,” Alice Ensabella, et al., Histoire des galeries d’art en France du XIXe au XXIe siècle, Paris: 2024: 144, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: Renoir.

Wikidata ID

Q20188818

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