Landscape at Vétheuil

c. 1890

Auguste Renoir

Artist, French, 1841 - 1919

Auguste Renoir

Attributed to

Tall grasses lead back to a body of water and then perhaps a town in this loosely painted, horizontal landscape. Brushstrokes are visible throughout, and the color palette is saturated with dark, jewel-toned blue and green, a few touches of citrine yellow, and rosy pinks. Tall, straight strokes suggest marshy grasses along the front two-thirds of the painting, and shorter flicks in slightly cooler greens to the left could be bushes. The water is streaked with pale pink across sapphire blue. Strokes beyond that suggest white-walled buildings with muted red roofs in a town tucked between trees in the distance. The horizon comes three-quarters of the way up this composition, and the sky above is painted thinly with pale purple, pink, and blue. The texture of the canvas shows through in many areas, especially around the edges and in the sky. The artist signed the lower center, “renoir.”

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 11.5 x 16.5 cm (4 1/2 x 6 1/2 in.)
    framed: 27.9 x 31.8 x 4.1 cm (11 x 12 1/2 x 1 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1970.17.72

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Ambroise Vollard [1866-1939], Paris). Capt. Edward H. Molyneux [1891-1974], Paris, by 1952;[1] sold 15 August 1955 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York; bequest 1970 to NGA.
[1]Exhibited as part of the Molyneux collection in 1952 at the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1952

  • French Paintings from the Molyneux Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1952, unnumbered checklist.

1956

  • Loan to the Hampton National Historic Site, Towson, Maryland, 1956.

1958

  • Paintings from the Collection of Mrs. Mellon Bruce, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, 1958, no. 33

1961

  • French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century from the Collection of Mrs. Mellon Bruce, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1961, no. 47, repro

1978

  • Small French Paintings from the Bequest of Ailsa Mellon Bruce. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978: 62, repro. (continuing exhibition beginning in 1978).

Bibliography

1918

  • Vollard, Ambroise. Tableaux, Pastels & Dessins de Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Paris, 1918: II: repro. 69.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 300, repro.

1978

  • Small French Paintings from the Bequest of Ailsa Mellon Bruce. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978: 62, repro. (continuing exhibition beginning in 1978).

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 471, no. 690, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 346, repro.

2007

  • Dauberville, Guy-Patrice, and Michel Dauberville. Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles. 5 vols. Paris, 2007: 2:no. 838.

Inscriptions

lower center: renoir

Wikidata ID

Q20190170

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