Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was, along with Degas, Monet, and Pissarro, a
founder of the
Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs,
Graveurs
and a key organizer of the 1870s Impressionist exhibitions. He is best known
for his renditions of the sensuous and monumental bathing nudes that he produced
from the 1880s onward (lots 34 and 35), many of which were inspired by the works
of Titian, Rubens and 18th-century French painters such as Boucher and Fragonard.
Like many of his contemporaries, Renoir embraced printmaking as a medium that
allowed for more freedom of expression and experimentation. He began producing
lithographs and etchings in the late 1880s and created an
oeuvre
over the following
two decades consisting of 25 etchings and 29 lithographs. Many of his most famous
prints reproduce compositions he had established in earlier paintings, such as lot 32
after the painting
La Danse à Bougival
, 1882-83, now at the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston. Ambroise Vollard published a set of 12 lithographs by Renoir (lot 36), a number
of which he sent individually to the Armory Show where they sold very well.
In addition to his lithographs, there were also five oil paintings by Renoir in the
Armory Show; these were exhibited in Gallery O with the other Impressionists. Four
of the five works were loaned by Impressionist dealer Durand-Ruel from Paris, the
best known of which was the
Algerian Girl
, 1881, now at the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston. Renoir’s works in the Armory Show, specifically the
Algerian Girl
, left a strong
impression on American Ashcan artist and AAPS committee member William
Glackens (1870-1938). Glackens would come to be called “the American Renoir”
during the last three decades of his career following the Armory Show and was
instrumental in advising his friend, prominent Philadelphia collector Dr. Albert C.
Barnes, toward the acquisition of numerous Renoirs (his eponymous collection is
now home to 181 works by Renoir, among the largest holdings of the artist’s work
worldwide). Ever the Renoir enthusiast, Glackens is quoted as having said, “Can you
think of a better man to follow than Renoir?”
