Oil on canvas

16.5 × 24.7 cm. 6 1/2 x 9 3/4 in.

Signed as initial “R” on lower right

LITERATURE
1918, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, tableaux, pastels et dessins, vol. II, Ambroise Vollard, Paris, illustrated p. 167
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, New York
Jun 2007, Sotheby’s London Spring Auction, Lot 419
Private Collection, Korea
Sep 2009, Christie’s New York Autumn Auction, Lot 206
Important Private Collection, Asia

The present work is accompanied by a certification of authenticity issued by Wildenstein Institute, French

The Beauty of Optimism, Perseverance and Giving
Impressionist Master Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Late Masterpiece Paysage
From Painter to Master
Born in 1841, Renoir has become a painter in a porcelain factory since he was 13 and decided to do it for his entire life when he was 20. He met with his old comrades Monet and Sisley in the Paris Art Institute. After holding the first Impressionist exhibition with Monet in 1874, from an apprentice painter, Renoir had become one of the most famous artists of the Art Center of France within ten years.
From Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette to countless portraits where artists praise the beauty of females and the purity of children, we can see Renoir’s works in the museums all around the world, and people usually forget that he is one of the very first pioneers of Impressionism. Renoir is advocating the exploration of Pleinairism which originates from the French word, Plein-Air, meaning “Outdoor Sketch”. It’s a very important part of his art exploration.
Reviewing all the works that Renoir has made, we can see that he had made several attempts from 1880 to 1900 and was trying to find inspiration from traveling like exploring Italy for a classic soul, and North Africa for a different ambience. In 1898, he suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and found Cagnes-sur-Mer while heading down to the South of France to rest. Cagnes-sur-Mer is a small town in Provence facing the Mediterranean. Renoir has visited there frequently since 1900. And when the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art bought Renoir’s masterpiece Madame Carpenter and her Children for 84,000 francs in 1907, Renoir bought Les Collettes in Cagnes-sur-Mer, and moved there a year after. The beauty of the local landscape has brought another peak for Renoir. Located in the warm south, Cagnes-sur-Mer has more colorful vegetation, which attracts Renoir’s high color sensitivity. In the upcoming auction, Paysage, is characteristic of Renoir’s work during his stay in Cagnes-sur-Mer.
Jumping Colors and Light, the Settler for Soul and Spirit
Tough and expressive strokes, almost-primary color combination and simple but discreet composition, Paysage, is a rare masterpiece of Renoir’s late works. Through the painting, we’re taken into Renoir’s own perception. Through the eyes of the artist, we see an orchard full of fruit trees and olives, and when we look up, there is a house with orange reef under the blue sky and white clouds. Flowers on the trees are blooming behind the fences on two sides; yellow and white are placed roughly yet in order on those bushes to contrast light and shadow. Different from the normal Impressionist paintings wherein people use dark and light colors in order to display the lights of a specific time correctly, Renoir leaves a blank on both sides to make this masterpiece more of a memory full of his tenderness.
If we explore the orange reef in Paysage,and that iconic three-story hollow fences, we could clearly see it not just a normal landscape painting, but a Corlett garden where Renoir spent the late years of his life!! Normally, Renoir would use five colors in his works, only a very few of them would have more than seven. However, in Paysage, we could clearly see six color lights like the orange he applied on the reef and the tree on the right, vermillion on the hollow place of tree trunks and fences, cobalt blue as the sky, green on the wall of the house, chrome yellow of the flower on the trees, and the Pompeii red with a little dirt-like yellow he used on the ground and the back which is a color Renoir discovered through his visit to Italy in 1881.
Renoir had lived in Corlett garden for twenty-one years. Many friends of his from the art field had come to visit him. Those works he made here has inspired thousands of artists. From a letter Van Gogh had written to his brother Theo: “Being here at Arles, I cannot help but think about Renoir’s pure, clean painting. What he tries to depict is everything I see here! ” Matisse had brought foods and drawing tools to visit Renoir who was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis for two years since 1917. Renoir was almost paralyzed; his back is deformed and he could only draw if he ties a brush up on his hand. Matisse had once asked him why he tortured himself like this. “Simple, because the pain will pass on but the beauty will remain” said Renoir. The house in the picture, the home, is Renoir’s dream land. He watched it with emotion and his heart, and combined it with friendship, family and his passion towards life and art to draw this masterpiece, making it additionally moving.

Price estimate:
HKD: 800,000 - 1,500,000
USD: 102,600 - 192,300

Auction Result:
HKD: --