Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Collection Gallimard, Paris

Private Collection, Paris

Sale: Drouot-Montaigne, Paris, June 21, 1989, no. 36

Private Collection

Acquired from the above in 1993

Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, A. Renoir, 1900, no. 62

Guy-Patrice & Michel Dauberville, Renoir, Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vol. III, Paris, 2007, no. 2496, illustrated p. 465

Overall this pastel is in very good and stable condition and shows no sign of paper losses or planar distortions. Mouted on an artist's board support, the board bows slightly. There is an expertly repaired tear to the bottom left corner and some scattered foxing that is barely noticeable. The pastel medium is well-preserved with no signs of retouching.
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.

Beautifully drawn with rich pastels, Renoir's reclining nude reflects his legacy as the premier Impressionist painter of the female form. "I like a painting which makes me want to stroll in it, if it is a landscape," the artist once said, "or to stroke a breast or a back, if it is a figure."  Renoir's intensely sensuous image of the nude, with her firm buttocks and dimpled lower back, offers precisely this irresistible visual proposition.

Renoir completed this composition in the late 1890s, when his focus was primarily on images of classical beauty.  Following his monumental Les Grandes Baigneuses of 1884-87, the image of the female nude became a primary subject in his art, with his  family governess Gabrielle posing for many of these compositions at the turn of the century.  This subject not only offered Renoir an opportunity to lavish attention on the female body, but it also aligned him with Ingres, whose Odalisque in grisaille, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum, may have inspired the present work.

The first recorded owner of this picture was Paul Gallimard (1850-1929), a translator, editor and close friend of Renoir.  Gallimard's son Gaston (1881-1975) was the founder of the major French publishing house that bears the family's name.