Alexandre Berthier, 4th Prince de Wagram

French, 1883 - 1918

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Against a hilly landscape and on a patch of dirt, five people wearing tattered clothing gather around a bearded man who holds a violin in his lap in this horizontal painting. Most of them have pale skin. Starting from the left is a barefoot young woman holding a blond baby to her chest. She faces our right, and her chestnut-brown hair hides her profile. She wears a black shirt over a calf-length skirt streaked with slate and aquamarine blue. To the right two young boys face us. The boy on the left of that pair wears a loose white shirt tucked into tan-colored pants and an upturned wide-brimmed hat. The boy next to him has short brown hair and is dressed in a black and brown vest and pants over a bone-white shirt. His right arm, to our left, is slung across the shoulders of the blond boy and he looks off to our right with dark, unfocused eyes. The man who holds the violin is to our right of center. He sits on a stone with his body facing our left, but he turns to look at us with dark eyes under heavy brows. He has tan skin, dark gray, curly hair, and a trimmed silvery gray beard. A wrinkle under one eye suggests he may smile slightly at us. He wears a loose brown cloak with a ragged bottom hem, teal-blue stockings, and black shoes. He holds a violin on his lap like a guitar. One hand fingers a chord on the neck of the violin, which comes toward us, and the other hand holds the bow and plucks a string. A sand-colored bag with a strap lies at his feet. Two men stand to our right of the musician. One wears a tall black top hat, a brown cloak, gray pants, and black shoes. His face is loosely and indistinctly painted but he has a beard. Finally, the sixth person is a man who stands along the right side of the painting and is cut off by that edge. He wears a turban, a black polka-dotted scarf, and a long black cloak or coat. One hand clutches the scarf and the other rests on a wooden cane by his side. His chin and long, light-colored beard tuck back against the scarf, and he looks off to our left with dark eyes. There are loosely painted olive and forest-green leaves in the upper left corner. The landscape beyond is painted with indistinct areas of muted green, blue, and brown. Bits of azure-blue sky peek through puffy white and gray clouds overhead. The artist signed and dated the lower right, “ed. Manet 1862.”
Edouard Manet, The Old Musician, 1862, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.162

The Old Musician

Edouard Manet · 1862 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.162

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.”
Auguste Renoir, Madame Henriot, c. 1876, oil on canvas, Gift of the Adele R. Levy Fund, Inc., 1961.3.1

Madame Henriot

Auguste Renoir · c. 1876 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1961.3.1

A cloud of canary-yellow flowers with pumpkin-orange centers on tall stems with emerald and pine-green leaves fills the top half of this vertical still life painting. The flowers, vase, the round tabletop on which they sit, and the background are loosely painted with visible brushstrokes of vibrant color. The flowers have long, pointed petals like daisies. The bouquet is rimmed with a ring of verdant leaves near where the stems gather in the narrow neck of the cylindrical, ivory-white vase. The vase might sit on a circular cloth edged with alternating sage-green and plum-purple forms like pompoms, but the loose painting style makes these details difficult to make out. The round tabletop is cropped by left and bottom edges of the canvas. The background behind the bouquet and table is painted with long, vertical brushstrokes in salmon pink, pale turquoise, denim blue, and creamy white. The artist signed and dated the painting in red in the lower right corner: “Claude Monet 1880.”
Claude Monet, Jerusalem Artichoke Flowers, 1880, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.181

Jerusalem Artichoke Flowers

Claude Monet · 1880 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.181

Shown from the knees up, a nearly nude, young woman with pale pink skin stands with her hands on her upswept, chestnut-brown hair in front of a pile of cloth, probably clothing, in this vertical painting. Blended brushstrokes give the painting a soft, almost blurred look. She stands with her body angled slightly to our left and her head tipped forward under her hands, which work in her hair. Her cheeks are flushed and her wide, pink lips are closed. Her round breasts are firm, and a piece of bright white fabric is bunched around her upper thighs below a smooth pubic area. Garments in the pile of fabric behind her are petal pink, vivid white, ruby red, and buttercup yellow. The area behind and around the woman and fabric is loosely painted with sage green, caramel brown, and golden yellow. Touches of yellow on a field of green to our right suggest grass and flowers. The artist signed the work with dark paint in the lower right corner: “Renoir.”
Auguste Renoir, Bather Arranging Her Hair, 1893, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.204

Bather Arranging Her Hair

Auguste Renoir · 1893 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.204

A pale, nearly nude woman with dark hair sits on a mossy rock, holding an archer's bow, with a dead deer at her feet in this vertical painting. Her body is angled to our left and she looks down toward the animal with dark eyes. Her hair is pulled up, and her pale pink lips are closed. She is covered only by a light, celery-green cloth and rose-pink ribbon across her hips. She has full, round breasts and curving belly, hips, and thighs. The deer’s legs face the woman as it lies on the ground, but its head is pulled back at a dramatic angle into the lower left corner, seeping blood from the mouth and from a slash across its neck. A quiver of arrows lies to the woman’s right, farther from us, on the moss-covered rock on which she is seated. More boulders behind her create the impression of hills, nearly filling the composition. Trees grow up against a corner of pale blue sky above.
Auguste Renoir, Diana, 1867, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.205

Diana

Auguste Renoir · 1867 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.205

Shown from the lap up, a pale-skinned woman wearing a floral-print dress holds a black lap dog in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s body is angled to our right, and she gently smiles as she looks slightly down in that direction with blue eyes. She has a round face, rosy, smooth cheeks, pale pink lips, and a double chin. Her brown hair is mostly covered by a hat with a brown brim and pale yellow crown. A bloom of white feathers nestles at the top front of the hat. Her dress is pale pink with a floral pattern painted with dabs of yellow, red, blue, and green. A burgundy-red bow is tied around her neck and lies limply down her chest. The woman wears gold bracelets over pale olive-green gloves that stretch almost to her elbows. Her fingers are interlaced as she holds the shaggy black dog in her lap. The dog’s front paws rest over the woman’s right forearm, to our left. A table in the background to the right holds a wide-mouthed, lapis-blue vase painted with a yellow and orange bird and white flowers. The vase holds at least a dozen pink, red, and white flowers and greenery. The background is painted with strokes of turquoise and mint green. Some brushstrokes are visible, as in the flowers and the woman’s dress, and some brushstrokes are blended, as in the woman’s face. The artist signed the painting near the bottom right corner, “Renoir 83.”
Auguste Renoir, Mlle Charlotte Berthier, 1883, oil on canvas, Gift of Angelika Wertheim Frink, 1969.10.1

Mlle Charlotte Berthier

Auguste Renoir · 1883 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1969.10.1

A nude woman with brown skin and long black hair stands to our right against a landscape swirling with jewel-toned greens, pinks, and purples while a man, also with brown skin, sits under a tree behind her in this stylized vertical painting. The woman's body is angled to our right, and she cuts her black eyes back to look off to our left. She touches her chin with the fingertips of her right hand, closer to us, while her left hand holds a white cloth over her groin. The ground beneath her is swirled with bright pink, lilac purple, and some strokes of canary yellow. To our left and behind the woman, the man wears a topaz-blue robe, and he kneels with his hands on his knees. A band of vivid orange and kelly green in front of his knees could be abstracted flowers. His oval face is rimmed with a band of black. He has a wide nose, and his pink lips are parted to reveal his teeth. His eyes are wide open as he looks down under black brows. A craggy, dark teal-blue tree trunk curves up and across the background, and a red and green faced serpent floats near the upper right corner. The artist signed, dated, and inscribed the title in the lower left corner, "P Gauguin 92 Parau na te Varua ino."
Paul Gauguin, Parau na te Varua ino (Words of the Devil), 1892, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.12

Parau na te Varua ino (Words of the Devil)

Paul Gauguin · 1892 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.12

Shown from the waist up, a woman with pale, peachy skin reads a book with one elbow propped on a grassy bank in this horizontal painting. The woman’s body is angled to our right, and she looks down at a pale green-covered book held in her right hand, which is in the lower left corner of the composition. The woman has dark brows over hooded eyes, and her dark brown hair falls loosely behind her shoulders. She has a round face, straight nose, and pale lips. She touches her hair with her left hand, to our right, with that pinky delicately crooked. One strap of a sleeveless, pearl-white chemise falls off the shoulder of that arm, and the dress nestles around her belly, revealing much of the other breast. Leafy trees and gray rocks are loosely painted behind her. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner, “G. Courbet.”
Gustave Courbet, A Young Woman Reading, c. 1866/1868, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.114

A Young Woman Reading

Gustave Courbet · c. 1866/1868 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.114

A pale-skinned young girl with blond hair, wearing a blue dress, stands in a garden in this vertical painting. The girl and background are painted with blended strokes, giving the scene and especially the girl a soft look. She faces our right and stands in the middle of the composition. Her shoulder-length cloud of hair is topped with a red bow, and long bangs frame her round face. Under faint brows, her sapphire-blue eyes look to our right. She has a petite nose, and her coral-pink mouth turns up in a slight smile. Her cobalt-blue dress is trimmed with wide, blue-white lace on the neckline, across the bottom hem, and down the front to either side of a row of white buttons. The white edges her petticoats come down to just below her knees, peeking out from under the flaring skirt. She wears white socks over blue ankle boots, which also have a row of white buttons down the side we can see. Her near hand is raised with her index finger hooked in the handle of a green watering can, and she holds two daisies by her side in her other hand. She stands on a path flecked with ivory white, pale purples, greens, and pink that curves up and to her left. A bush with emerald and pine-green leaves dotted with pink blooms fills the lower left corner. Behind her, green grass runs back to meet a profusion of pink, purple, and poppy-red plants and flowers that run along the top edge of the composition. The artist signed and dated the lower right, “Renoir. 76.”
Auguste Renoir, A Girl with a Watering Can, 1876, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.206

A Girl with a Watering Can

Auguste Renoir · 1876 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.206

Auguste Renoir, Head of a Young Girl, c. 1890, oil on canvas, Gift of Vladimir Horowitz, 1948.18.1

Head of a Young Girl

Auguste Renoir · c. 1890 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1948.18.1

Bibliography

1913

  • Frimmel, Theodor von. Lexicon der Wiener Gemaeldesammlungen. 2 vols. Munich, 1913-1914:I:107-108

1969

  • La Coste-Messelière, M.-G. de. "Un jeune prince amateur d'impressionnistes et chauffeur." L'Oeil 179 (November 1969):18+