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Lot Essay
The dedicatee of this drawing is Paul Sébastien Gallimard (1850-1929), the director of the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris, an extremely wealthy bibliophile, and a well known man-about-town. Gallimard began to acquire books and manuscripts at the age of thirteen, and both he and his father collected paintings, mainly by Barbizon painters, which they displayed on their separate floors of their large family residence. Gallimard was introduced to the newer paintings of the Impressionists at a dinner given in honor of Claude Monet and Auguste Rodin in June 1889. He purchased his first Renoir painting, La Baigneuse blonde, 1882 (Daulte, no. 393), later that year.
Renoir and Gallimard quickly became close friends. According to Jean Renoir, the artist's son and later a famous film-director, Renoir considered Gallimard to be "a real eighteenth-century Frenchman." (in Renoir, My Father, New York, 1958, p. 312). Gallimard lent three Renoir paintings to the artist's retrospective at Galerie Durand-Ruel in May 1892, and thereafter took Renoir for a month-long holiday in Madrid. That summer Renoir painted a portrait of Gallimard's wife, and later gave her painting lessons. The two men traveled together to London and Holland in the autumn of 1895. By 1903 Gallimard had acquired sixteen paintings by Renoir; at that time only the dentist George Viau had a larger collection of the artist's works. In 1904 Gallimard introduced Renoir to his brother-in-law Maurice Gangnat, who had just returned to Paris after living in Naples. Gangnat went on to become the leading collector of Renoir's paintings during the late phase of the artist's career.
The present drawing is related to the painting La Lecture, 1888 (fig. 1) as well as two smaller oil studies (Daulte, nos. 527 and 529). Renoir sold La Lecture to Durand-Ruel, who resold it to the Abbé Gauguin in February 1892. Perhaps Gallimard admired the painting but was unable to acquire it, and Renoir made him a gift of this drawing. Gallimard, as a bibliophile, would have appreciated the subject of the reader, and in keeping with his cosmopolitan, hedonistic tastes, the appeal of the youthful, partially bared sitter.
The subject of books would eventually become emblematic of the Gallimard family. Paul's eldest son, Gaston (1881-1975) was one of the founders of La Nouvelle Revue Française in 1908. Within a few years, this periodical evolved into a full-scale publishing venture, later known as Editions Gallimard. Directed today by Paul's grandson, Antoine, it is the third largest publishing house in France.
(fig. 1) Pierre-Auguste Renoir, La lecture, 1888. Private collection.
Renoir and Gallimard quickly became close friends. According to Jean Renoir, the artist's son and later a famous film-director, Renoir considered Gallimard to be "a real eighteenth-century Frenchman." (in Renoir, My Father, New York, 1958, p. 312). Gallimard lent three Renoir paintings to the artist's retrospective at Galerie Durand-Ruel in May 1892, and thereafter took Renoir for a month-long holiday in Madrid. That summer Renoir painted a portrait of Gallimard's wife, and later gave her painting lessons. The two men traveled together to London and Holland in the autumn of 1895. By 1903 Gallimard had acquired sixteen paintings by Renoir; at that time only the dentist George Viau had a larger collection of the artist's works. In 1904 Gallimard introduced Renoir to his brother-in-law Maurice Gangnat, who had just returned to Paris after living in Naples. Gangnat went on to become the leading collector of Renoir's paintings during the late phase of the artist's career.
The present drawing is related to the painting La Lecture, 1888 (fig. 1) as well as two smaller oil studies (Daulte, nos. 527 and 529). Renoir sold La Lecture to Durand-Ruel, who resold it to the Abbé Gauguin in February 1892. Perhaps Gallimard admired the painting but was unable to acquire it, and Renoir made him a gift of this drawing. Gallimard, as a bibliophile, would have appreciated the subject of the reader, and in keeping with his cosmopolitan, hedonistic tastes, the appeal of the youthful, partially bared sitter.
The subject of books would eventually become emblematic of the Gallimard family. Paul's eldest son, Gaston (1881-1975) was one of the founders of La Nouvelle Revue Française in 1908. Within a few years, this periodical evolved into a full-scale publishing venture, later known as Editions Gallimard. Directed today by Paul's grandson, Antoine, it is the third largest publishing house in France.
(fig. 1) Pierre-Auguste Renoir, La lecture, 1888. Private collection.