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Lot Essay
To seek the charming aspects of nature, the aspects that make us love it, that is Renoir’s aim; his whole oeuvre has this as its goal! —— Georges Rivière
Painted in the summer of 1892, La Promenade au bord de la mer (Le Bois de la Chaise, Noirmoutier) is a radiant example of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s mature landscapes, capturing his romanticized vision of the French coastline. This work harmoniously blends elements of his earlier Impressionist technique—fluid, atmospheric brushwork—with the more structured, sculptural approach that emerged in his paintings of the 1880s. Here, Renoir emphasizes the sinuous rhythms of the landscape, interweaving elegant lines with a lush, dappled palette to evoke the tranquil beauty of Noirmoutier, the idyllic island retreat that inspired several of his compositions, including Bois de la Chaise (Noirmoutier) (Dauberville, no. 864; The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia).
In 1892, Renoir embarked on an extended tour of northwestern France, spending the late summer in the resort town of Pornic. Just off the coast lay Noirmoutier, known as the “Island of Mimosas” for its vibrant vegetation and crystalline waters, a setting that captivated the artist. In La Promenade au bord de la mer, Renoir situates two women and two young children amidst the towering pines of the Bois de la Chaise, a secluded grove near the island’s shoreline. A delicate interplay of light and shadow filters through the branches, while the shimmering cerulean sea glows in the distance, reinforcing the painting’s sense of depth and serenity. Renoir’s masterful wet-on-wet technique softens the middle- and background, allowing the landscape to dissolve into a gentle haze, while the foreground—particularly the flowering treetops—is rendered with greater precision, subtly enhancing spatial recession and perspective.
Having emerged from a period of artistic introspection in the 1880s—spurred by extensive travels to Italy, Algeria, and the Mediterranean—Renoir returned to a softened, more lyrical approach to painting. While his early Impressionist works had sought to capture the fleeting effects of light, his later landscapes reflect a decorative idealization of nature, informed by his search for greater structural solidity in form. In the present work, the motif of the three trees, with the principal one prominently positioned in the foreground, recalls the compositions of Paul Cezanne. Though Renoir remained devoted to Impressionism, he, like Cezanne, began to move away from purely spontaneous brushwork at this time, demonstrating an increased interest in compositional harmony and the underlying architecture of his scenes. Cezanne’s method of constructing form through layered, constructive brushstrokes likely influenced Renoir’s handling of volume and spatial arrangement here. While La Promenade au bord de la mer retains Renoir’s signature luminosity and softness, the more deliberate rendering of figures and foliage suggests an awareness of Cezanne’s innovations in structure and depth.
Although best known as a painter of figures, Renoir remained devoted to landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes throughout his career. His deep engagement with the genre was the subject of the 2007 exhibition Renoir Landscapes: 1865-1883, held at the National Galleries of London and Ottawa, as well as the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Renoir’s interest in landscape painting began in the 1860s, inspired by the Barbizon school and his fellow Impressionists Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley. By the 1870s, he had developed a distinct visual language to convey the ephemeral effects of light and movement. The landscapes of the late 1880s and early 1890s radiate with a newfound richness of color, reflecting Renoir’s deep appreciation for nature and its intoxicating beauty. The island of Noirmoutier provided the artist with ample opportunities to paint elegant society figures immersed in sun-drenched settings—an extension of the leisure scenes that had defined his earlier oeuvre. The softly rendered, exquisitely balanced compositions of this period foreshadow Renoir’s later works, which would culminate in the grand, Rubensian visions of bathers that characterized his final years.
The distinguished provenance of La Promenade au bord de la mer further enhances its significance. Once in the esteemed collection of Milena Jurzykowski, widow of Alfred Jurzykowski—the founder of a major Brazilian automobile company—the painting was later gifted to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remained for nearly half a century.
Painted in the summer of 1892, La Promenade au bord de la mer (Le Bois de la Chaise, Noirmoutier) is a radiant example of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s mature landscapes, capturing his romanticized vision of the French coastline. This work harmoniously blends elements of his earlier Impressionist technique—fluid, atmospheric brushwork—with the more structured, sculptural approach that emerged in his paintings of the 1880s. Here, Renoir emphasizes the sinuous rhythms of the landscape, interweaving elegant lines with a lush, dappled palette to evoke the tranquil beauty of Noirmoutier, the idyllic island retreat that inspired several of his compositions, including Bois de la Chaise (Noirmoutier) (Dauberville, no. 864; The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia).
In 1892, Renoir embarked on an extended tour of northwestern France, spending the late summer in the resort town of Pornic. Just off the coast lay Noirmoutier, known as the “Island of Mimosas” for its vibrant vegetation and crystalline waters, a setting that captivated the artist. In La Promenade au bord de la mer, Renoir situates two women and two young children amidst the towering pines of the Bois de la Chaise, a secluded grove near the island’s shoreline. A delicate interplay of light and shadow filters through the branches, while the shimmering cerulean sea glows in the distance, reinforcing the painting’s sense of depth and serenity. Renoir’s masterful wet-on-wet technique softens the middle- and background, allowing the landscape to dissolve into a gentle haze, while the foreground—particularly the flowering treetops—is rendered with greater precision, subtly enhancing spatial recession and perspective.
Having emerged from a period of artistic introspection in the 1880s—spurred by extensive travels to Italy, Algeria, and the Mediterranean—Renoir returned to a softened, more lyrical approach to painting. While his early Impressionist works had sought to capture the fleeting effects of light, his later landscapes reflect a decorative idealization of nature, informed by his search for greater structural solidity in form. In the present work, the motif of the three trees, with the principal one prominently positioned in the foreground, recalls the compositions of Paul Cezanne. Though Renoir remained devoted to Impressionism, he, like Cezanne, began to move away from purely spontaneous brushwork at this time, demonstrating an increased interest in compositional harmony and the underlying architecture of his scenes. Cezanne’s method of constructing form through layered, constructive brushstrokes likely influenced Renoir’s handling of volume and spatial arrangement here. While La Promenade au bord de la mer retains Renoir’s signature luminosity and softness, the more deliberate rendering of figures and foliage suggests an awareness of Cezanne’s innovations in structure and depth.
Although best known as a painter of figures, Renoir remained devoted to landscapes, seascapes, and cityscapes throughout his career. His deep engagement with the genre was the subject of the 2007 exhibition Renoir Landscapes: 1865-1883, held at the National Galleries of London and Ottawa, as well as the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Renoir’s interest in landscape painting began in the 1860s, inspired by the Barbizon school and his fellow Impressionists Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley. By the 1870s, he had developed a distinct visual language to convey the ephemeral effects of light and movement. The landscapes of the late 1880s and early 1890s radiate with a newfound richness of color, reflecting Renoir’s deep appreciation for nature and its intoxicating beauty. The island of Noirmoutier provided the artist with ample opportunities to paint elegant society figures immersed in sun-drenched settings—an extension of the leisure scenes that had defined his earlier oeuvre. The softly rendered, exquisitely balanced compositions of this period foreshadow Renoir’s later works, which would culminate in the grand, Rubensian visions of bathers that characterized his final years.
The distinguished provenance of La Promenade au bord de la mer further enhances its significance. Once in the esteemed collection of Milena Jurzykowski, widow of Alfred Jurzykowski—the founder of a major Brazilian automobile company—the painting was later gifted to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remained for nearly half a century.