NARRATOR:
In 1872, Auguste Renoir moved to 74 rue Saint-Georges, a street off one of the new great boulevards of Paris. It would be the center of his life for the next decade, and a meeting-place for his friends and colleagues. He painted some of his most memorable pictures there—including this lively group portrait, a typical gathering of good friends engaged in conversation.
On the far left is the painter Pierre Franc-Lamy. The art critic Georges Rivière looks out at us; he would later be Renoir’s biographer and would pen one of two descriptions of this picture identifying the figures. To the right, the balding man in profile is the older painter Camille Pissarro. The men beside him are believed to be the composer Ernst-Jean Cabaner; and with his back to us—holding a cigarette—is Eugène Lestringuez, a civil servant who shared Renoir’s interest in the occult. According to another account of the picture, this figure may also be the famous writer Alphonse Daudet. In either case, the assembly of contemporary artists and intellectuals puts forth Renoir’s refined sensibility over any bohemian artist’s life.
The composition is woven together and animated by the kind of rapid energetic brushstrokes that the Impressionists—including Renoir—were beginning to use for outdoor paintings. Renoir often preferred to paint in his studio. His approach was far from traditional, however. Most artists posed their subjects for many hours. But Renoir painted his quickly; he could finish a portrait at a single sitting. He disliked professional models, and relied heavily on his friends—and later, his family—to sit for him.
At Renoir's Home, rue St-Georges (formerly The Artist's Studio, rue St.-Georges)
1876
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919)
On View
Renoir's portrait records an informal gathering of friends and colleagues at his home in Montmartre. The central figure holding a paperback and leading the discussion is Georges Rivière, an art critic and early biographer of Renoir. The bald, bearded man partially hidden to the right is Camille Pissarro, another member of the Impressionist group. Less certain are the names of the other three figures, who have been variously identified as painters, a writer, a philosopher, and a composer. Their pensive poses and expressions belie the spontaneous, animated brushwork Renoir used to describe them.
Details
- Artist Name: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919)
- Title: At Renoir's Home, rue St-Georges (formerly The Artist's Studio, rue St.-Georges)
- Date: 1876
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 18-1/8 x 15 in. (46 x 38.1 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1978.13.1.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Eugène Murer, Paris, sold in 1896 to;
Dr. George Viau, Paris (sale, Paris, Galeries Durand-Ruel, 4 March 1907, lot 64, for FF 4,900);
[Durand-Ruel, Paris].
M. Hocquard, Paris.
Antonio Santamarina, Buenos Aires, by 1933 (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 2 April 1974, lot 15);
[P. & D. Colnaghi, London];
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Dr. George Viau, Paris (sale, Paris, Galeries Durand-Ruel, 4 March 1907, lot 64, for FF 4,900);
[Durand-Ruel, Paris].
M. Hocquard, Paris.
Antonio Santamarina, Buenos Aires, by 1933 (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 2 April 1974, lot 15);
[P. & D. Colnaghi, London];
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Magnifique collection d'impressionistes dont 30 toiles de Renoir
- Rouen, Hotel du Dauphin et d'Espagne, 1896-05 to 1896-05
- Drucker, Michel, Renoir,no. 35 p. 150
- Bailey, Colin B., Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age,fig. 18 pp. 15, 16, 51
- Drucker, Michel, Renoir,no. 40 p. 199
- Gaunt, William, Renoir,no. 21
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum,1989, p. 133
- Hrsg. Kunstmuseum Basel, Renoir: Between Bohemia and Bourgeoisie: The Early Years,2012, Fig. 85 p. 297
- Gachet, Paul, Deux amis des Impressionnistes: Le docteur Gachet et Murer,fig. 17 pp. 156-157, 164, 170, 172, 176-177
- Néret, Gilles, Renoir: Painter of Happiness, 1841-1919, p. 189
- Rewald, John, The History of Impressionism, p. 307
- White, Barbara Ehrlich, Renoir: His Life, Art and Letters, pp. 74, 81
- Alexis, Paul; and Trublot, Le Cri du Peuple,
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best,2010, cat. 1522 p. 416
- Rewald, John, The History of Impressionism, p. 382
- Gaussen, Frédéric, Visites d'Ateliers, pp. 97-101
- Jedlicka, Gotthard, Renoir,no. 27
- Shimada, N., The Artists who left the Great Works, p. 15
- Vollard, Amboise, La vie et l'oeuvre de Pierre-Auguste Renoir, p. 82
- Daulte, François, Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint,no. 188
- Gaussen, Frédéric, Le Monde, pp. 1, 8
- Chamson, André, Renoir,no. 17
- Bonafoux, Pascal, The Impressionists: Portraits and Confidences, p. 190, 124
- Rivière, Georges, Renoir et ses amis, pp. 61-62, 80, 111, 116, opp. p. 62
- I geni dell'arte: Renoir, p. 109
- Dauberville, Guy-Patrice and Michel Dauberville, Renoir: Catalogue Raisonné des Tableaux, Pastels, Dessins et Aquarelles,2007, cat. 233 p. 277
- Berr de Turnique, Marcelle, Renoir,fig. 16
- Renoir: A Retrospective,pl. 58 pp. 172, 361
- Meier-Graefe, Julius, Renoir,no. 80 p. 128
- Delage, Roger, Iconographie musicale Chambrier,fig. 28 p. 58
- Brettell, Richard R. and Stephen F. Eisenman, Nineteenth-Century Art in the Norton Simon Museum, volume 1,2006,
- Gaunt, William, Renoir,fig. 16
- Monneret, Sophie, Renoir, p. 66
- Santamarina, Antonio, Magazine of Art, p. 55
- Lloyd, Christopher, Camille Pissarro, pp. 38-39
- Alsdorf, Bridget, Fellow Men: Fantin-Latour and the Problem of the Group in Nineteenth-Century French Painting,2012, Plate 33
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