Provenance
Ambroise Vollard (1866–1939), Paris [Tokyo 1979]. Fraysse collection, Paris, by 1938 [Durlacher Brothers, stock card MM129]. Sold by Durlacher Brothers, New York, to Philip Hofer (1898–1984), Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 28, 1938 [Durlacher Brothers stock card MM129]; consigned to Durlacher Brothers, New York, Oct. 1947 [Philip Hofer to Kirk Askew, Sept. 23, 1947; Askew to Hofer, Sept. 20, 1947; and Hofer to Askew, Western Union telegram, Oct. 3 1947]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1948.
Accession Number
62432
Medium
Pen and black ink with opaque and transparent watercolor on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
49.7 × 30.9 cm (19 5/8 × 12 3/16 in.)
Classification
watercolor
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Potter Palmer
Background & Context
Background Story
"Studies of Trees and Foliage" is an 1884/87 pen and ink drawing with watercolor by Pierre-Auguste Renoir that demonstrates the French Impressionist master's mastery of the landscape sketch and his engagement with the natural world through the combined media of drawing and watercolor. The composition is a medium-sized work—49.7 × 30.9 centimeters—showing studies of trees with the pen and black ink with opaque and transparent watercolor on ivory wove paper creating a surface of extraordinary freshness and atmospheric depth. The combination of pen and ink with watercolor allows for both the structural precision of the drawing and the chromatic luminosity of the painting, the technique suggesting both the observed reality of the forest and the artist's delighted response to natural beauty. The ivory wove paper provides a warm, luminous ground that makes the ink and watercolor appear rich and inviting, enhancing the sense of outdoor observation and spontaneous pleasure. The 1884/87 date places this work in the period of Renoir's most intensive production of landscape studies and his exploration of the forest and garden as subjects for artistic expression. Art historians have connected this drawing to the broader tradition of the landscape study in French art, from the drawings of Corot to the watercolors of the Impressionists, noting that Renoir's treatment is more focused on the chromatic luminosity and the spontaneous pleasure, the transformation of observed nature into visual delight, than the structural analysis or the atmospheric effect of these other traditions.
Cultural Impact
This 1884/87 pen-ink watercolor made trees luminously fresh through medium 49cm structural drawing-chromatic luminosity combination and ivory-paper outdoor spontaneity, using intensive forest-study period to transform observed nature into visual pleasure delight beyond Corot structural atmospheric analysis.
Why It Matters
It matters because Renoir drew some trees and made the paper feel like it was rustling in a warm breeze—proving that even leaves could dance if the watercolor was bright enough.
