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Lot Essay
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Impressionism's pre-eminent figure painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir was occupied with portraiture at all stages of his early and middle career, from the 1860s to the 1890s, and the numerous examples of his practiced production embrace a variety of formats and media. The present painting of a young girl is both affectionate and engaging, with abundant charm and apparent directness. Its composition evidences Renoir's return, in the early 1890s, to studies of the female figure, his most often repeated subject of that decade. Many paintings, like the present work, recall his paintings of the 1870s in which a single female sitter is presented in three-quarter or full profile. In the later works, she is most often shown from a closer vantage point, a reorientation that allows a heightened intimacy. In this tender portrait of a young girl at her toilette, Renoir removes any hint of the sitter's location, instilling a timeless quality in the work.
As in so many of Renoir's canvases, the surface itself is seductive. The artist's characteristically luminous brushwork receives studied attention, and the composition focuses on the figure without the distraction of a highly embellished interior. Instead, the simplicity of this composition produces a potent effect. The free, varied brushwork creates a kaleidoscopic play of highlights and shadows as the painting's surface is animated by multicolored flecks of light in the figure's hair. The rich blues of the background complement the color of her eyes, inducing an especially penetrating stare, as if this young woman is deep in thought or lost in reverie. In this way, the present painting, even of an unidentified subject, demonstrates what art critic Georges Rivière has asserted about Renoir's portraits: "In Renoir's figure painting, portraiture deserves a place unto itself. For no other artist has looked so deeply into his sitter's soul, nor captured its essence with such economy" (quoted in C. Bailey, Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age, New Haven and London, 1997, p. 1).
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Young Woman Braiding Her Hair, 1876, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Impressionism's pre-eminent figure painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir was occupied with portraiture at all stages of his early and middle career, from the 1860s to the 1890s, and the numerous examples of his practiced production embrace a variety of formats and media. The present painting of a young girl is both affectionate and engaging, with abundant charm and apparent directness. Its composition evidences Renoir's return, in the early 1890s, to studies of the female figure, his most often repeated subject of that decade. Many paintings, like the present work, recall his paintings of the 1870s in which a single female sitter is presented in three-quarter or full profile. In the later works, she is most often shown from a closer vantage point, a reorientation that allows a heightened intimacy. In this tender portrait of a young girl at her toilette, Renoir removes any hint of the sitter's location, instilling a timeless quality in the work.
As in so many of Renoir's canvases, the surface itself is seductive. The artist's characteristically luminous brushwork receives studied attention, and the composition focuses on the figure without the distraction of a highly embellished interior. Instead, the simplicity of this composition produces a potent effect. The free, varied brushwork creates a kaleidoscopic play of highlights and shadows as the painting's surface is animated by multicolored flecks of light in the figure's hair. The rich blues of the background complement the color of her eyes, inducing an especially penetrating stare, as if this young woman is deep in thought or lost in reverie. In this way, the present painting, even of an unidentified subject, demonstrates what art critic Georges Rivière has asserted about Renoir's portraits: "In Renoir's figure painting, portraiture deserves a place unto itself. For no other artist has looked so deeply into his sitter's soul, nor captured its essence with such economy" (quoted in C. Bailey, Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age, New Haven and London, 1997, p. 1).
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Young Woman Braiding Her Hair, 1876, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.