Pierre-Auguste Renoir Lot n° 516

Jeunes femmes dans un jardin. Oil on canvas, mounted. (Circa 1895). Approx. 46 x 55 cm. Between 1890 and 1897 Auguste Renoir resided opposite Château de Brouillards in Montmartre in Paris, in whose garden the present painting was probably created. This period is formative for Renoir, as in 1894 his son Jean was born opposite the park. Renoir painted many paintings during this period that reflect the life and leisure activities of a section of society in the late 19th century: The House, The Park and The Garden. An impression of Montmartre at the time of Renoir is given by the painting "Scène de rue à Montmartre" by van Gogh, in which the latter captures the mill of Montmartre and the surrounding area at the time of 1887. Renoir expresses in the present painting his fascination and simultaneous admiration for the artists of the 18th century such as Antoine Watteau and Jean-Honoré Fragonard, as the two works "The Love Feast" (Watteau) and "The Swing" (Fragonard) show. Drawing on the period, he depicts a group of ladies and children taking a short rest during an afternoon stroll through the park. Taking his models as a starting point, he draws a wide arc into the Impressionist period, placing the group in a landscape influenced by open-air painting. He captures the beauty of the surroundings with a soft palette and feathery accents of color, creating a harmonious, peaceful mood. Renoir turned to almost all pictorial subjects in his artistic work, landscapes, still lifes, nudes and portraits. Having begun as a porcelain painter, he advanced to sculptor in the autumn of his life. With great preference he dedicated himself again and again to one subject: the woman. In this work, too, he again places her at the centre - this time not as a lover, relative, girl from the street, housemaid or actress - but as an elegant lady in the park. Vollard I, 655; Dauberville III, 2028. With a photographic expert opinion by François Daulte, Lausanne, dated 20.7.1989 and an expert opinion by Guy Wildenstein, Wildenstein Institute, Paris, dated 24.4.2015. The work will be included by the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Paris, in the digital catalogue raisonné of the works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, currently in preparation. Exhibition: Collection David et Ezra Nahmad: Impressionisme et Audaces du XIXème Siècle, Musée Paul Valéry, Paris 2013, cat.Provenance: Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, inscribed "PH" on the verso of the stretcher; (Probably) Davidson, Coe Kerr, New York; Lawrence O'Hana Gallery, London, acquired from the aforementioned ca. 1952; private collection, acquired from the aforementioned ca. 1957; Christie's, London 3.4.1989, lot 14; private collection, Europe; private collection, Switzerland. Taxation: differential taxed plus 7% (VAT: Margin Scheme (non EU))