Nature morte aux pommes et oranges

Still-life occupies a prominent position in Renoir's late work. The most "academic" of the Impressionists, Renoir is largely remembered as a painter of the female figure. Although he recommended to Manet's niece Julie in the late 1890s to paint still life "in order to teach yourself to paint quickly" (quoted in J. Manet, Journal, 1893-1899, Paris, n.d., p. 190), the numerous works which Renoir executed in this genre over the course of his career attest to his sustained interest in still-life as an end in itself. Indeed it was often in the medium of still-life that Renoir pursued his formal investigation of the changing effect of light, tone and colour on objects.

Nature morte aux pommes et oranges is a typically subtle, albeit enticing, work of the late 1890s. Forms are carefully measured and evenly distributed in the composition, pointing to Renoir's return to the classical tradition in the 1880s and to his desire for greater structure in his art.

The Wildenstein Institute has kindly confirmed the authenticity of this painting.