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Lot Essay
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue critique of Pierre-Auguste Renoir being prepared by the Wildenstein Institute established from the archives of François Daulte, Durand-Ruel, Venturi, Vollard and Wildenstein.
Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville have confirmed that this painting is included in their Bernheim-Jeune archives as an authentic work.
Paul Bérard was an embassy secretary, former banker and one of Renoir's wealthy patrons who hosted the painter at his country estate almost every summer between 1879 and 1885, sometimes for several weeks at a time. Renoir executed numerous commissions for the Bérard family during this period, such as decorative panels, and portraits of Bérard, his wife Marguerite, and their four children. The professional relationship between patron and painter ultimately grew into a solid friendship. Scholar John House has written, "Bérard became a lifelong friend, seemingly because he preferred the artistic vie de Boheme to the company of his own social set"(in Renoir, exh. cat., Hayward Gallery, London, 1985, p. 16). The present painting is of Paul Bérard's concierge.
Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville have confirmed that this painting is included in their Bernheim-Jeune archives as an authentic work.
Paul Bérard was an embassy secretary, former banker and one of Renoir's wealthy patrons who hosted the painter at his country estate almost every summer between 1879 and 1885, sometimes for several weeks at a time. Renoir executed numerous commissions for the Bérard family during this period, such as decorative panels, and portraits of Bérard, his wife Marguerite, and their four children. The professional relationship between patron and painter ultimately grew into a solid friendship. Scholar John House has written, "Bérard became a lifelong friend, seemingly because he preferred the artistic vie de Boheme to the company of his own social set"(in Renoir, exh. cat., Hayward Gallery, London, 1985, p. 16). The present painting is of Paul Bérard's concierge.