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Lot Essay
The authenticity of this work has kindly been confirmed by the Wildenstein Institute, who will include the work in their forthcoming Pierre-Auguste Renoir catalogue raisonné.
Like Degas, in his series of ballerinas, Renoir chooses the pastel medium as the most fitting means of capturing the intimate, delicate, and fitting qulity of his young model. The fluidity of application and lightness of the pastel grain infuse a subtle impression of movement to the work. It seems that the young girl has been caught sur le vif and will change her position at any moment. This impression is strengthened furhter by the striking colouristic freshness of the work.
The female nude is a central theme in Renoir's oeuvre and seems to function as a point of contact between the classical tradition and the impressionist master's involvment with contemporary figures and themes. A small preliminary outline, visible at the lower left of the sheet, illustrates Renoir's concern with the position of the young girl's head. He eventually opts for a centralised composition, setting the young nude within a solid pyramidal configuration that alludes to classical and acadmic pedigree of this perennial theme.
However, most noteworthy, is the way in which this work illustrates aspects of Renoir's creative process such as his exploration for compositional alternatives and the different textural chromatic qualities of pastel. The outlined drapery, which the young woman grasps with her left hand, is treated with an astonishing ease and its crisp whiteness is echoed in her beautifully modulated flesh tones. In the end, the figure, the drapery and the surroundings are arrested somewhere between idea and finished form. The work takes on an evanescent quality while expressing that all important dialectic between the artist and the model.
Like Degas, in his series of ballerinas, Renoir chooses the pastel medium as the most fitting means of capturing the intimate, delicate, and fitting qulity of his young model. The fluidity of application and lightness of the pastel grain infuse a subtle impression of movement to the work. It seems that the young girl has been caught sur le vif and will change her position at any moment. This impression is strengthened furhter by the striking colouristic freshness of the work.
The female nude is a central theme in Renoir's oeuvre and seems to function as a point of contact between the classical tradition and the impressionist master's involvment with contemporary figures and themes. A small preliminary outline, visible at the lower left of the sheet, illustrates Renoir's concern with the position of the young girl's head. He eventually opts for a centralised composition, setting the young nude within a solid pyramidal configuration that alludes to classical and acadmic pedigree of this perennial theme.
However, most noteworthy, is the way in which this work illustrates aspects of Renoir's creative process such as his exploration for compositional alternatives and the different textural chromatic qualities of pastel. The outlined drapery, which the young woman grasps with her left hand, is treated with an astonishing ease and its crisp whiteness is echoed in her beautifully modulated flesh tones. In the end, the figure, the drapery and the surroundings are arrested somewhere between idea and finished form. The work takes on an evanescent quality while expressing that all important dialectic between the artist and the model.