View of Monte Carlo from Cap Martin

c. 1884

Auguste Renoir

Painter, French, 1841 - 1919

Lush treetops give way to a body of water and a hill in this loosely painted horizontal landscape. The trees across the bottom edge of the canvas are painted with visible or blended strokes in shades of spring, pine, and forest green, aquamarine, and midnight blue. The body of water is skimmed with pale peach, yellow, and blue before the hill rises to nearly touch the top edge of the painting. The vegetation on the hill is painted in shades of celery and olive green, navy and cobalt blue, and a few touches of rust red. Strokes of ivory white suggest houses clustered near the shoreline. The sky is painted with long strokes in pale pink along the horizon and deepens to powder blue across the top.

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased 8 September 1887, probably from the artist, by (Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York).[1] purchased 23 March 1899 by Edward Fullerton Milliken [d. 1906], New York; (his sale, American Art Association, New York, 14 February 1902, no. 14, as Bordighiera); (Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York).[2] Edward C. [d. 1915] and Mary Griffin [1855-1937] Walker, Willistead Manor, Walkerville, Ontario, and Washington; bequest 4 May 1937 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.
[1] Provenance according to Renoir Landscapes 1865-1883, Exh. cat., The National Gallery, London, 2007: 266. The painting was given two stock numbers, 1190 and 1460, in Durand-Ruel's Paris branch (Stockbook 1884-1890); it was transferred to the company's New York branch in 1897, where it was stock number 1849.
[2] Durand-Ruel stock no. 2784. See note 1.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1958

  • A Selection of Paintings from the Edward C. Walker and Mary Walker Collection, Willistead Art Gallery, Windsor, Ontario, 8-29 October 1958, no. 16, as Landscape, L'Esterel.

1959

  • Loan Exhibition. Masterpieces of the Corcoran Gallery of Art: A Benefit Exhibition in Honor of the Gallery's Centenary, Wildenstein, New York, 28 January-7 March 1959, unnumbered cat., as The Estérel Mountains.

  • French Masterworks: A Loan Exhibition from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, 1959, no. 23.

1961

  • The White House, Washington, 1961-1962.

1983

  • La Vie Moderne: Nineteenth Century French Art from the Corcoran Gallery, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Columbus Museum of Arts and Sciences, Georgia; Mary and Leigh Block Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Tampa Museum; Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha; Akron Art Museum, 1983-1985, no. 31, repro.

2003

  • The Impressionist Tradition in America, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 19 July 2003-18 October 2004, unpublished checklist.

2007

  • Renoir Landscapes 1865-1883, The National Gallery, London; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2007-2008, no. 73, repro. (shown only in Ottowa).

2011

  • A Passion for Nature: Landscape Painting from 19th Century France, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, 15 October 2011 - 20 February 2012, no catalogue.

Wikidata ID

Q46631288

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