Claude Monet

1872

Auguste Renoir

Artist, French, 1841 - 1919

Shown from the waist up, a man sits facing us on the far side of a ledge or counter looking down at an open book in this loosely painted, vertical portrait. The man’s pale skin is flushed pink. He leans both forearms onto the ledge so his shoulders hunch forward. His head tips slightly to our left, and he reads with gathered, dark brows. He has a round-tipped nose and full, bushy beard. His black, wavy hair and beard are touched with lighter shades of bronze, especially at the temples. He holds a white pipe to his lips with one hand, and tendrils of smoke curl from the burning embers. He wears a black coat, and a slip of white cuff is visible on the hand we see. The other hand is tucked behind the first. The pages of the book are bright white, and the ledge surface is painted with strokes of celery green and ochre yellow. A swirling black form in the lower left corner of the painting is difficult to interpret. The background is painted with loose brushstrokes in shades of sky and cobalt blue and charcoal gray. The artist signed the painting near the lower left corner, “A. Renoir.”

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 65 x 50 cm (25 9/16 x 19 11/16 in.)
    framed: 85.1 x 70.5 x 9.2 cm (33 1/2 x 27 3/4 x 3 5/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1985.64.35

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Jean Dollfus [1823-1911], Paris, possibly by 1876 but no later than 1892;[1] (his sale, Paris, 2 March 1912, no. 57, as Le liseur, portrait de Sisley); (Paul Rosenberg, Paris). Pierre Decourcelle [1856-1926], Paris; (his sale, Paris, 16 June 1926, no. 63); (Durand-Ruel, New York and Paris); sold 31 December 1928 to Arthur Sachs [1880-1975], New York;[2] sold 1960 through (Bernheim-Jeune, Paris) to Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia;[3] gift 1985 to NGA.
[1] The NGA work is possibly the painting (one of two by Renoir of Monet owned by Dollfus) that Dollfus lent to the 1876 impressionist exhibition. The painting was also lent by Dollfus to the 1892 Renoir exhibition at Durand-Ruel, no. 62, under the title Le Liseur.
[2] The sale date is per François Daulte, Auguste Renoir, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Vol.I: Figures 1860-1890, Lausanne, 1971: no. 87.
[3] According to Paul Mellon records in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1876

  • Possibly Le 2e Exposition de Peinture [Second Impressionist Exhibition], Paris, 1876, no. 220, as Portrait de M.M.

1883

  • Exposition des oeuvres de P.-A. Renoir, Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1883, no. 44.

1892

  • Exposition A. Renoir, Galeries Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1892, no. 62 as Le Liseur (Portrait de M. Claude Monet).

1917

  • Art français du XIXe siècle, 25 June - 13 July 1917, no. 66.

1933

  • Exposition Renoir, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 1933, no. 15, repro.

1937

  • Renoir: A Special Exhibition of his Paintings, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1937, no.3, repro.

1938

  • Great Portraits from Impressionism to Modernism, Wildenstein & Co., New York, 1938, no. 37.

1947

  • [Exhibition of the Arthur Sachs Collection], California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1947.

1952

  • Cent portraits d'hommes du XIVe siècle à nos jours, Galerie Charpentier, 1952, no. 77a.

1953

  • Renoir, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; Tate Gallery, London, 1953, no. 4.

  • Célébrités Françaises, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 1953-1954, no. 154, as Sisley.

1957

  • Cent chefs-d'oeuvre de l'art Français, 1750-1950, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 1957, no. 74, as Portrait de Sisley.

1962

  • Artmobile II ("Twelve Portraits: Delacroix to Gauguin"), sponsored by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1962, no. 5.

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 98, repro.

1973

  • French Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1973-1978, unnumbered checklist.

1986

  • Gifts to the Nation: Selected Acquisitions from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1986, unnumbered checklist, 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. 15, repro., as Claude Monet (The Reader).

2000

  • The Impressionists at Argenteuil, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, 2000, no. 15, repro., as Portrait of Monet.

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. 30.

2016

  • Normandy Impressionist Festival: Scènes de la vie impressionniste - Manet, Renoir, Monet, Morisot..., Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, 2016, no. 17, repro.

2017

  • Monet: Framing Life, Detroit Institute of Arts, 2017-2018, no. 9, repro.

Bibliography

1924

  • Fosca, François. Renoir. Translated by Hubert Wellington. London, 1924: plate 8, as Le portrai de Sisley.

  • Duret, Théodore. Renoir. Paris, 1924: 72.

1938

  • Florisoone, Michel. Renior. Paris, 1938:36.

1952

  • Gaunt, William. Renoir. London, 1952: 7, repro. 14.

1953

  • Berr de Turique, Marcelle. Renoir. Paris, c. 1953: 6, 9, repro. plate 14,

1955

  • Rewald, John. Histoire de l'Impressionisme. Paris, 1955: repro. opposite 1976.

1961

  • Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. 3rd rev. ed., New York, 1961:repro. p. 298.

1966

  • Goldwater, Robert. "The Glory that was France." Art News 65 (March 1966): 42, repro.

  • Neugass, Fritz. "Jubiläumsschau in der National-Galerie in Washington." Weltkunst XXXVI, no. 8 (15 April 1966): 335, repro.

1971

  • François Daulte. Auguste Renoir, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Vol.I: Figures 1860-1890. Lausanne, 1971: no. 87, repro.

1984

  • White, Barbara Ehrlich. Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters. New York, 1984: 54, 58.

1985

  • Arts Council of Great Britain. Renoir. Exh. cat., Hayward Gallery , London, Galleries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1985-1986: 20.

1986

  • The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886. Exh. cat. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; National Gallery of Art, Washington. San Francisco, 1986: 185, under no. 36.

  • McQuillan, Melissa. Impressionist Portraits. London, 1986: 18, repro.

1995

  • Stuckey, Charles F. Claude Monet 1840-1926. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago, 1995: 197-198, 249.

1996

  • Berson, Ruth, ed. The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886 -- Documentation. 2 vols. San Francisco, 1996: 1:62-64, 67-68, 70-71, 101-104, 108-109, 111-113; 2:44.

  • White, Barbara Ehrlich. Impressionists Side by Side: Their Friendships, Rivalries, and Artistic Exchanges. New York, 1996: 79, repro.

2000

  • Défossez, Marie-Paule. Les Grands Peintres du Val-d'Oise. Valhermeil, 2000:42, repro.

2001

  • Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA II: Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago, 2001: 26-27, 207, color repro.

  • Tucker, Paul Hayes. "Renoir in the 1870s and '80s: Modernity, Tradition, and Individuality. In Renoir from outsider to old master, 1870-1892. Exh. cat., Tokyo, 2001: 218, repro.

2006

  • Søndergaard, Sidsel Maria. Women in Impressionism: From Mythical Feminine to Modern Woman. Exh. cat. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Milan, 2006: 112 fig. 86.

2007

  • Dauberville, Guy-Patrice, and Michel Dauberville. Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles. 5 vols. Paris, 2007: I:no. 537, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: A.Renoir.

Wikidata ID

Q20188747

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