Provenance

Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel

French, 1831 - 1922

Explore Selected Works

In a dance studio, two ballerinas wearing knee-length tutus and ballet slippers sit on a bench and stretch to our right while four more pose at the back of the space, to our left, in this long, horizontal painting. The scene and dancers are loosely painted so many features are indistinct. All the women have light skin and dark brown hair. Each pale, robins’ egg-blue costume has a low-cut, tightly fitting, sleeveless bodice and a full skirt. Dabs of off white, teal, and blue suggest flowers lining the deep U of the neckline at the front and down the back of each bodice. Closest to us and nearly brushing the edges of the lower right corner of the canvas, one dancer sits on the end of a wooden bench and leans down between her legs, her feet widely planted. She rests her torso on an elbow folded onto one knee as she reaches for her left foot, farther from us, with her other hand. Her hair is pulled up and her face, looking downward, is deep in shadow. Sitting behind her on the bench, to our left, a second dancer lifts her right leg, toe pointing, as she pulls on her pale pink tights. Her other leg stretches straight, pointed toe brushing the floor, in front of her. This woman’s hair hangs loose around her shoulders. The pair is brightly lit from a source to our right, and an arched area of electric blue and mustard yellow behind them is difficult to interpret. The floor, which takes up about two-thirds of the composition, is painted with dabs of teal blue, pale fuchsia pink, and caramel brown. It leads us back to the upper left corner of the painting where four more four ballerinas stand in a line. The pair to our left stands with their backs to us, facing the wall with their right legs raised to shoulder height, toes pointed. The pair to our right faces us. They also stand with their right legs raised, creating a wide angle with their standing legs. All four ballerinas bend their arms gently at the elbow, and some tip their heads toward the raised legs. The rightmost dancer is illuminated by a pair of French doors at the back corner, at the top center of the painting. The wall behind the bench is streaked with mint green over honey brown, and the wall at the back of the room is leather brown. The visible, soft brushstrokes give the image a blurred, ethereal appearance in the dimmed studio. The artist signed the painting in the lower left corner, “Degas.”
Edgar Degas, Before the Ballet, 1890/1892, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.19

Before the Ballet

Edgar Degas · 1890/1892 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.9.19

Auguste Renoir, Girl with a Basket of Fish, c. 1889, oil on canvas, Gift of William Robertson Coe, 1956.4.1

Girl with a Basket of Fish

Auguste Renoir · c. 1889 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1956.4.1

A pale-skinned girl wearing an arctic-blue ballet costume stands looking at us and almost fills this vertical painting. The scene is painted with blended strokes, giving it a soft, almost blurry look. In pale pink ballet slippers, she stands with her feet in fifth position, so the toes are turned out while her feet are almost parallel, the heel of the front foot touching the toes of the other. Her body faces our left, and she turns her head to look at us with blue eyes. She has delicate, dark brows, rosy cheeks, and full pink lips. Her long honey-brown hair is tied with a sky-blue ribbon like a headband. The fitted bodice of her pale blue dress has a lapis-blue bow at the chest, and the short sleeves tie around the sides of her shoulders. A sash around her middle is also lapis blue. The knee-length tutu has layers of light fabric, and seems to fly up behind her. She wears a black choker necklace and a black bracelet on each wrist. She holds a white object, perhaps a lacy handkerchief, in her right hand at her waist. Her other arm, closer to us, hangs down by her side as she touches the tutu. The background is painted with strokes of spring, sage, and pine green with touches of teal blue. The artist signed and dated the lower right, “A. Renoir. 74.”
Auguste Renoir, The Dancer, 1874, oil on canvas, Widener Collection, 1942.9.72

The Dancer

Auguste Renoir · 1874 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1942.9.72

We look across a river at a bridge that spans the center of this horizontal landscape, which is painted entirely with broad, visible brushstrokes in muted blue, pink, and brown. The straight deck of the bridge crosses the center of the composition but angles slightly away from us as it moves to our right. The four low arches of the bridge are ash brown on their face, and their curved undersides are cobalt blue. Marigold-orange and teal-blue marks on the deck above suggest traffic, and shell-pink smoke or steam billows over our side of the bridge. Three long, narrow forms in the water between and in front of the bridge pilings suggest boats. The sky above is painted loosely with icy blue and pale peach around the slate-blue silhouettes of buildings and smokestacks lining the far bank. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner: “Claude Monet 1903.”
Claude Monet, Waterloo Bridge, Gray Day, 1903, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.183

Waterloo Bridge, Gray Day

Claude Monet · 1903 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.183

Auguste Renoir, Girl with a Basket of Oranges, c. 1889, oil on canvas, Gift of William Robertson Coe, 1956.4.2

Girl with a Basket of Oranges

Auguste Renoir · c. 1889 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1956.4.2

Bibliography

1922

  • "Paul Durand-Ruel dies in 92nd year." American Art News 20, no. 18 (11 February 1922): 1

1939

  • Venturi, Lionello. Les Archives de L'Impressionnisme 2 vols. Paris, 1939

1960

  • Daulte, François. "Le marchand des Impressionistes." L'Oeil 66 (1960):54-63

1961

  • Cabanne, Pierre. The Great Collectors. New York, 1961: 63ff.

1963

  • Cabanne, Pierre. The Great Collectors. New York, 1963:63-82

1971

  • Elias, Julius. "Aus dem Leben eines Kunsthandlers. Paul Durand-Ruel -- ein Klassiker seines Metier." Der Kunsthandel 63, no. 12 (1971):27-28

1972

  • Miramus, André. "Paul Durand-Ruel et l'Impressionisme." L'Amateur d'art 25 (1972):9

2002

  • Assouline, Pierre. Grâce lui soient rendues: Paul Durant-Rueld, le marchand des impressionistes. Paris, 2002