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拍品专文
Renoir was among the greatest of Impressionist portraitists, and his superiority in this field was acknowledged in his own day. In 1878 Théodore Duret stated, "Renoir excels at portraiture".
The present work depicts the five year-old Pierre, first son of the artist and Aline Charigot. Painted in 1890, the painting emanates a luminosity typical of the works of the late 1880s and early 1890s. On this aspect of the artist's work Colin Bailey has commented, "The natural light of day penetrating and influencing all things which transforms and radicalizes Renoir's figures both in his portraiture and in his genre painting. [This] use of natural light is at the heart of Renoir's practice as a figure painter . . ." (C. Bailey, Renoir's Portraits, exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1997, pp. 21-25).
In Portrait de Pierre en costume marin, Pierre's figure is carefully modeled, his strong contours contrasting with the flat background. The brushwork is smooth and feathery in the child's face and intentionally looser in his hair and in the patches of color in the background.
Long curls were in fashion for young boys at this date, but Renoir wanted to preserve those of his own children as long as possible. Pierre's brother, Jean, later remembered his own acute embarrassment at the curls he was forced to wear until he went to school, although he was taunted with the nicknames 'girl' and, still, worse, 'wall-mop' (J. Renoir, Renoir, Paris, 1962, pp. 317, 367, 393-394 and 397).
"After the children's curls were cut, Renoir rarely used them as models" (A. Distel, Renoir, exh. cat., Hayward Gallery, London, 1985-1986, p. 267).
The present work depicts the five year-old Pierre, first son of the artist and Aline Charigot. Painted in 1890, the painting emanates a luminosity typical of the works of the late 1880s and early 1890s. On this aspect of the artist's work Colin Bailey has commented, "The natural light of day penetrating and influencing all things which transforms and radicalizes Renoir's figures both in his portraiture and in his genre painting. [This] use of natural light is at the heart of Renoir's practice as a figure painter . . ." (C. Bailey, Renoir's Portraits, exh. cat., National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1997, pp. 21-25).
In Portrait de Pierre en costume marin, Pierre's figure is carefully modeled, his strong contours contrasting with the flat background. The brushwork is smooth and feathery in the child's face and intentionally looser in his hair and in the patches of color in the background.
Long curls were in fashion for young boys at this date, but Renoir wanted to preserve those of his own children as long as possible. Pierre's brother, Jean, later remembered his own acute embarrassment at the curls he was forced to wear until he went to school, although he was taunted with the nicknames 'girl' and, still, worse, 'wall-mop' (J. Renoir, Renoir, Paris, 1962, pp. 317, 367, 393-394 and 397).
"After the children's curls were cut, Renoir rarely used them as models" (A. Distel, Renoir, exh. cat., Hayward Gallery, London, 1985-1986, p. 267).