PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR | Buste de femme (Andrée en chapeau lisant, la tête tournée à droite)

Estate of the Artist
Galerie Barbazanges, Paris (acquired directly from the above in 1922-27) 
Paul Guillaume, Paris
Madame Paul Guillaume, Paris (by descent from the above after 1934)
Private Collection, New York & Lausanne
By descent from the above to the present owners in 1986

London, Leger Galleries, L'Impressionnisme, 1938, no. 17
Tokyo, Isetan Museum of Art & Kyoto, Municipal Museum, Exposition Renoir, 1979, no. 82, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Lausanne, Fondation de l'Hermitage, François Daulte, L'Impression dans les collections Romandes, 1984, no. 81

Bernheim-Jeune (ed.), L'Atelier de Renoir, San Francisco, 1989, no. 618, illustrated pl. 193 
Guy Patrice & Michel Dauberville, Renoir. Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, 1911-1919, Paris, 2014, vol. V, no. 4091, illustrated p. 270 

The canvas is not lined. There is a milky varnish which prevents UV light from fully penetrating, however there do not appear to be any signs of retouching.There are some very fine lines of craquelure and paint shrinkage in places. There are tiny fly spots towards the edges and an artist's pinhole at the centre of the upper edge. This work is in overall very good condition.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Painted in 1917, the present work displays the extraordinary richness of tone and texture - a hallmark of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s mature œuvre. The sitter depicted in Buste de femme (Andrée en chapeau lisant, la tête tournée à droite) is Andrée Heuschling, nicknamed Dédée (1900-1979), a local bakery girl who joined the Renoir household in order to help care for the ageing artist, and would be his last model. The year after the artist’s death she married his son, the film director Jean Renoir, and acted in several of his films. Isabelle Gaëtan wrote: ‘From her first meeting with Renoir (between 1915 and 1917 according to accounts), Andrée stood out among the regular visitors to Les Collettes, where she became the painter’s favorite model. She married Jean Renoir in 1920, and four years later began a career as an actress under the name of Catherine Hessling, in one of the first films scripted by her husband’ (Isabel Gaëtan in Renoir in the 20th Century (exhibition catalogue), Galeries Nationales, Paris; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles & Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 2009-10, p. 342). Dédée posed for some of Renoir’s most celebrated late works, including Femme à la mandoline and Le Concert, now in the collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. Writing about Renoir’s last masterpiece Les Baigneuses, which reflects the artist’s delight in painting his young model, John House commented: ‘According to Albert André, the beauty of this “superb redhead” was the incentive he needed to undertake his last paintings’ (John House in Renoir (exhibition catalogue), Hayward Gallery, London; Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris & Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1985-86, p. 288). Buste de femme (Andrée en chapeau lisant, la tête tournée à droite) ultimately stands as a testament to Renoir’s superlative ability to capture the beauty of youth in its prime.



This work will be included in the forthcoming Renoir Digital Catalogue raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc.