Woman with a Cat

c. 1875

Auguste Renoir

Artist, French, 1841 - 1919

Shown from about the waist up, a young woman wearing white sits in an armchair cuddling a brown and black striped cat in this vertical painting. The scene is painted with blended brushstrokes, giving it a soft look. The wall behind them is seafoam green, and the edge of a yellow floral curtain lines the left edge of the canvas. The woman’s body is angled to our right and she looks at the cat with dark eyes. The woman’s light brown hair is pulled up, and her pale skin is accentuated by rosy cheeks. Her bare arms enfold the cat, held upright against the left side of her body so its head rests against her cheek. She supports the cat’s upper body with her right hand, on which she wears an emerald ring. The cat’s lower body nestles into the crook of the woman’s left arm. Its paws are extended and its head pulled back. The white and blue tones of the woman’s short-sleeved dress and kerchief tied around her neck contrast against the muted burgundy-red of the armchair behind her. To our right, behind the woman, vibrant, loose brushstrokes in red, orange, green, violet, and white could be a floral arrangement.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 82

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin E. Levy

  • Dimensions

    overall: 56 x 46.4 cm (22 1/16 x 18 1/4 in.)
    framed: 85.1 x 75.9 x 7.6 cm (33 1/2 x 29 7/8 x 3 in.)

  • Accession

    1950.12.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Ernest Hoschedé [1837-1891], Paris; (his sale, Paris, 6 June 1878, no. 75); purchased by Count de Rasty, Paris; Countess de Rasty sold 1925/1926 to (Paul Rosenberg and Co., Paris); sold by 1932 to Benjamin E. Levy [d. 1952], Paris, and Ridgefield, Connecticut; gift 1950 to NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1899

  • Exposition de tableaux de Monet, Pissarro, Renoir & Sisley, Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1899, no. 79 (possibly)

1900

  • Exposition universelle, Paris, 1900, no. 558

1925

  • Les grandes influences au dix-neuvième siècle, Paul Rosenberg, Paris, 1925, no. 13

1932

  • Exhibition of French Art 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1932, no. 558

1933

  • Exposition Renoir, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 1933, no. 32, repro.

1938

  • Honderd Jaar Fransche Kunst, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1938, no. 205, repro.

1950

  • Loan Exhibition of Renoir for the Benefit of the New York Infantry, Wildenstein and Co., New York, 1950, no. 10, repro.

1986

  • Capolavori Impressionisti dei Musei Americani, Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples; Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 1986-1987, no. 40, repro.

1992

  • From El Greco to Cézanne: Masterpieces of European Painting from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Metroplitan Museum of Art, New York, National Gallery of Greece, Athens, 1992-1993, no. 49, repro.

1996

  • Obras Maestras de la National Gallery of Art de Washington, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City, 1996-1997, unnumbered catalogue, 154-155, color repro.

1999

  • Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat. (substitute for painting returned early to NGA).

2005

  • Impressionnisme et naissance du Cinématographe, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, 2005, no. 33, repro.

2013

  • 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. 40.

2016

  • Renoir, Image of Women, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Seoul Museum of Art; The Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, 2016-2017, no. 19, repro. (shown only in Kyoto and Seoul).

Bibliography

1931

  • Elder, Marc. L’Atelier de Renoir. 2 vols. Paris, 1931:I:29.

1935

  • Barnes, Albert C. and Violette de Mazia. The Art of Renoir. New York, 1935: 51, 68, 445 no. 38.

1937

  • McBride, Henry. "The Renoirs in America: In Appreciation of the Metropolitan Museum's Exhibition," Art News 35, no. 31 (1 May 1937): 59.

1943

  • Graber, Hans. Auguste Renoir nach eigenen und fremden Zeugnissen. Basel, 1943:167-168, possibly 134.

1944

  • Wilenski, R.H. Modern French Painters. London, 1944: 162, 337.

  • Drucker, Michel. Renoir. Paris, 1944: 45, 197 under no. 32.

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: 111.

1968

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

  • Bodelsen, Merete. "Early Impressionist Sales 1874-94 in the light of some unpublished 'procès-verbaux'." The Burlington Magazine 110 (June 1968): 339-340.

1971

  • François Daulte. Auguste Renoir, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Vol.I: Figures 1860-1890. Lausanne, 1971: no. 162

1973

  • Fahy, Everett, and Francis John Bagott Watson. The Wrightsman Collection. Vol. 5: Paintings, drawings, sculpture. New York, 1973:187.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 292, repro.

1978

  • Leymarie, Jean. Renoir. Paris, 1978: repro. 30.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 462, no. 669, color repro.

  • White, Barbara Ehrlich. Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters. New York, 1984: 51, 84, repro. 58.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 336, repro.

  • Fezzi, Elda. L'opera complete di Renoir nel period impressionista 1869-1883. Paris, 1985:no.214, repro.

1997

  • Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism. New York, 1997: no. 227, repro.

2007

  • Dauberville, Guy-Patrice, and Michel Dauberville. Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles. 5 vols. Paris, 2007: 1:no. 0388.

Inscriptions

lower left: Renoir.

Wikidata ID

Q20188807

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