Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Estate of the artist
Dr. Hans Wendland, Lugano
Hans Fritz Fankhauser, Bâle
Private Collection, New York
Sale: Habsburg Feldman, The Regency Hotel, New York, November 12, 1989, lot 16
Emile Wolf, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Thence by descent

New York, Finch College Museum of Art, French Landscape Painters from Four Centuries, 1965-66, no. 44, illustrated in the catalogue 

Bernheim-Jeune, ed., L'Atelier de Renoir, vol. II, Paris, 1931, no. 522, illustrated pl. 163
Guy-Patrice & Michel Dauberville, Renoir, Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, 1911-1919, vol. V, Paris, 2014, no. 3830, illustrated p. 128

The work is in excellent condition. The canvas is not lined. There is a pindot loss along the left edge near the bottom corner. The surface is otherwise well preserved and there is a lovely impasto. Under UV, there is no inpainting apparent.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

At the turn of the century Renoir’s style continued to develop in an integration of Classicism and Impressionism. In an attempt to improve his arthritis, he spent more and more time in the South of France, moving to the region permanently in 1897. While his physical deterioration was certainly the impetus for this change of environs, Renoir was also drawn to an Arcadian ideal of Mediterranean Classicism in his work and it was during this period in which he produced some of the most attractive landscapes of his entire career. It was ultimately in this genre that he felt able to demonstrate the most informal and improvisational aspects of his practice, a feature that is very evident in the present work.

A charming example of Renoir’s mature landscapes, Esquisse de paysage à Cagnes reveals the artist’s fascination with the fleeting effects of light and weather, which he sought to capture through painting en plein air. Within the present work, verdant foliage and pink and yellow flowers move gently in the breeze against the background of a warm blue sky, the entire scene suffused with a distinctively Provencal sunlight. Art Historian Anthea Callen has noted the importance of the esquisse as a vehicle for the artist’s primary creative ideas: “[The] esquisse…embodied the artist’s first inspired idea or design for the final painting… Spontaneity and originality were the prime qualities sought” (Anthea Callen, Techniques of the Impressionists, London, 1982, p. 187).