Provenance
Probably Dr. Prat, Renoir’s physician at Cagnes [according to New York 1958]. Mr. and Mrs. Lazarus Phillips, Montreal, bought through John Rewald in Paris in France in October 1958 [according to Ivan E. Phillips’ letter of April 27, 1982, in curatorial file]; by descent to the Phillips family, Montreal; given to the Art Institute, 1983.
Studies of Pierre Renoir; His Mother, Aline Charigot; Nudes; and Landscape
1885–86
Accession Number
100026
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
45.8 × 39 cm (18 × 15 3/8 in.); Framed: 68.6 × 61 × 10.2 cm (27 × 24 × 4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Purchased with funds provided by the Phillips Family Collection
Background & Context
Background Story
Pierre-Auguste Renoirs Studies of Pierre Renoir; His Mother, Aline Charigot; Nudes; and Landscape from 1885-86 is an oil on canvas that combines multiple studies on a single support, demonstrating the artists working method of reserving unused areas of canvas for new compositions and creating a palimpsest of studies that documents the range of his practice at a specific moment in his career. The studies of the artists son Pierre, his wife Aline Charigot, nude figures, and a landscape represent the four principal subjects that occupied Renoir throughout his career, and their juxtaposition on a single canvas provides a unique record of the relationship between portraiture, figure painting, and landscape in his practice. The years 1885-86 bracket a crucial period in Renoirs development, when he was transitioning from the Impressionist style of his earlier work to the more linear and classical style that has been called his dry or Ingresque period, in which the broken brushwork and chromatic richness of Impressionism gave way to harder edges, clearer contours, and more sculptural modeling of the figure. The studies of Pierre and Aline on this canvas demonstrate the new emphasis on Linear definition and sculptural volume that characterizes Renoirs work of this period, while the nude studies and landscape show the persistence of his Impressionist approach to color and atmosphere in subjects that did not demand the same portrait specificity.
Cultural Impact
Renoirs combined study canvases are important documents for understanding his working method and the development of his style, and this canvas demonstrates the transition from Impressionism to his Ingresque period that is one of the most debated phases of his career. The juxtaposition of portraits, nudes, and landscape on a single canvas reveals the relationship between different subjects in his practice.
Why It Matters
An oil on canvas from 1885-86 by Renoir combining studies of his son Pierre, his wife Aline, nudes, and landscape on a single support, documenting the transition from Impressionism to his Ingresque period with harder edges and sculptural modeling in portraits alongside persistent atmospheric color in landscape and nudes.
