Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), La Promenade, 1875–76,
oil on canvas, 67 x 42 5/8 in. (170.2 x 108.3 cm)
The Frick Collection, New York
Photo: Michael Bodycomb
Photo: Michael Bodycomb
Links between senses have long been recognized. The sensation of sound may involuntarily give rise to a sense of color or vice versa. These associations are called synaesthesia and it happens upon entering the Frick Collection’s special exhibition, Renoir, Impressionism, and Full-Length Painting. The exuberant paintings sing.
Pierre-August Renoir’s La Promenade inspired the show. Henry Clay Frick purchased the work in 1914. Initially, he contemplated returning it but, lucky for us, he didn’t. It was the last Impressionist work to enter the collection.
The exhibit, as well as its catalogue, are curatorial triumphs for Colin B. Bailey, the Frick’s Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Curator. Eight important full-length paintings from seven institutions join La Promenade for a look at the work which occupied Renoir in the early years of Impressionism, from the mid-1870s through the mid-1880s. They represent Renoir’s confident and kindly view of modernity - fashionable ladies and gentlemen, a ballerina, an actress, young acrobats, and a trio of dancing couples. This is the first time the museum’s East Gallery has been turned over for a temporary exhibit. The installation takes advantage of the room’s natural light and ample proportions.
Although the Impressionists are known for their easel-size canvases, Renoir preferred to work in a large format. He painted on big surfaces early in his career when he had been employed to make full-scale religious images in imitation of stain glass windows on blinds intended for export to missionary churches. In addition, he had decorated cafe walls with murals.
Landscapes and scenes of contemporary life fell under his observational powers. Rendered in an audacious style of bright hues, feathery brush work and inventive compositions, his work shocked contemporaries.
A tailor father and seamstress mother may account for his interest in and visual acuity for fashion. His paintings can be dated by the clothing worn by those portrayed. He lived during a changing world of politics and industrialization. Napoleon III’s Second French Empire ended and the Third Republic established. Baron Haussmann’s designs transformed Paris into a metropolis of wide boulevards and expansive gardens. The proliferation of street lights made evening strolls safer. Lights illuminated theaters and the just developing department stores, the grand magazins. New railway networks facilitated travel. People spent time outdoors in the city’s gardens or nearby Parisian suburbs now easily reached by train. A diverse social mix enjoyed leisure activities.
Portable umbrellas were produced, made possible by the 1852 invention of the light weight steel-ribbed frame. Cigarette smoking, which had crossed into France from Spain by 1830, became popular. Match manufacturing began making smoking more convenient. In fact, the safety match, received an award at the Paris “World Exhibition” of 1855.
In 1830, a French tailor invented the first functional sewing machine that sewed straight seams. By the mid-1800s, sewing machines were mass produced. The invention of synthetic dyes made new cloth colors possible. Stylish garments became accessible and available at different price points. Women could buy expensive outfits in a cheaper version.
Renoir’s La Promenade, the finest Impressionist work in the Frick Collection, is a glorious depiction of nineteenth-century society. It is a wintry bright day in a public garden. A young women ushers two little girls along a pathway. They are dressed in fur-trimmed outfits. The girls wear matching apparel. One warms her hands in a muff, made of white mink or swans down, while the other holds a fully dressed doll. Besides fur, their ensembles are embellished with silk and lace. In the upper right background, at least eleven figures are discernible along with two dogs, one black and one white.
The work had long been described as a mother and her two children but a recent technical examination supports a different interpretation.
In the spring of 2011, La Promenade was sent to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s conservation department. An infrared reflectogram revealed a distinct underlayer image of two female figures at the upper left side of the canvas. One was an elegantly dressed older women of obvious high social rank; the other was modestly attired. They were most likely meant to represent the mother and nanny of the three remaining figures. Renoir may have chosen to leave them out in order to give more space to the final the composition and focus attention on the foreground youths, who are now understood to be three sisters. The older one wears a type of schoolgirl skirt. Note the bit of white petticoat sticking out from the right side of her hem. Her casual loose hair is indicative of girlhood. Only children or young, unmarried females of seventeen or eighteen years-of-age wore their hair this way. An older women would not be outside in public with her tresses down. Married, mature women wore their hair styled and pinned up under bonnets or hats.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), La Parisienne, 1874,
oil on canvas, 64 3/8 x 42 3⁄4 in. (163.2 x 108.3 cm)
National Museum Wales, Cardiff,
Miss Gwendoline E. Davies Bequest, 1951
Photo: © Amgueddfa Cymru—National Museum Wales
Such is the case of the woman pictured in La Parisienne who dresses in a chic, outdoor blue silk walking outfit with matching hat, toque and gloves. She is the height of fashion with a shaped jacket, overskirt pulled into a bustle puffing the fabric out behind and underskirt with pleated flounces. When this canvas was painted in the early 1870s, bright blue and mauve were the “it” colors of the fashionable.
Blues, which dominates La Parisienne, highlight The Dancer placed nearby. This may be the first time both paintings are together since they were shown at the First Impressionist Exhibition in 1874.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), The Dancer, 1874,
oil on canvas 56 1/8 x 37 1/8 in. (142.5 x 94.5 cm)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Widener Collection
Photo: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
The Dancer is a light filled canvas of bravado brushstrokes and radical coloration. The young ballerina may be in front of a mirror checking herself or showing her progress to a ballet master. Pushing back her tutu, she gets a better view of her body placement. Her feet are placed in ballet fifth position, the fundamental position from which all classical technique is derived and the one dancers spend their whole lives trying to perfect. Her skin is tinged with blue, green and yellow. The dermis seems to pick up the color of her costume’s sash, bodice trim and hair bows. Renoir doesn’t miss describing the velvet neck choker, delicate hankie and jeweled bracelets. The painter even delineates the taut ribbons of new pink toe shoes pressing against the young girl’s flesh.
The model for The Dancer, La Parisienne, and older sister in La Promenade has been identified as the then aspiring actress Marie-Henriette-Alphonsine Grossin whose stage name was Madame Henriot. She became one of Renoir’s favorite models posing for the artist between 1874, when she was seventeen-years-old, and 1876. Modeling gave her income and public exposure. In the painting Madame Henriot “en travesti” (The Page), also in the show and hung to the right of La Parisienne, the actress is portrayed as a page.
Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, 1878-1881,
yellow wax, hair, ribbon, linen bodice, satin shoes, muslin tutu, wood base,
overall without base: 38 15/16 x 13 11/16 x 13 7/8 in. (98.9 x 34.7 x 35.2 cm)
weight: 49 lb. (22.226 kg)
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Photo: ARTnews
A short digression: The ballerina as subject is usually associated with Edgar Degas who also took part in the Impressionist exhibitions. His Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, presented in the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition of 1881, was the only sculpture the artist ever put on public display. Made of wax, hair and clothing materials, it defied convention. She stands in the ballet fourth position which gives the dancer a balanced solid-base, allowing for the body’s elongation and improved alignment. Yet, compared to Renoir’s painted dancer who stands in the more difficult fifth, the little wax ballerina looks awkward. Part of the reason, I suggest, is that Renoir was incapable of rendering his models indifferently. He made them look good, better than they actually were in life. The actress Mademoiselle Henriot was not a particularly attractive woman but Renoir made her appealing. His was a benevolent view of mankind.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), The Umbrellas (Les Parapluies), c. 1881–85,
oil on canvas, 71 x 45 in. (180.3 x 114.9 cm),
The National Gallery, London, Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917
Photo: © The National Gallery, London / Art Resource, NY
The Umbrellas (Les Parapluies) is on a wall by itself across from La Parisienne. Begun about 1881, it was completed five years later. The work is bifurcated yet the blue toned pigments unite dissimilarities. On the right are four figures in Renoir’s early luminous Impressionistic manner. A well-dressed mother holding an open umbrella looks down at her two daughters. Their luxurious garments demonstrate wealth. Next to them, a younger woman with an upturned face is in the process of opening her umbrella. Her clothing is evidence of some means.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Detail of The Umbrellas (Les Parapluies),
c. 1881–85, oil on canvas,
71 x 45 in. (180.3 x 114.9 cm),
The National Gallery, London, Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917
Photo: ARTstor
On the painting’s left, a dapper man with top hat holds an open umbrella in his gloved right hand. He appears to protect the bare-headed woman standing before him. Her garments as well as the hat box with leather strap that she carries signifies she is a milliner's assistant. This pair as well as the background figures and umbrellas were painted in Renoir’s later linear, subdued style which emphasized form, line and volume rather than brushstrokes and colors.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Detail of The Umbrellas (Les Parapluies),
c. 1881–85, oil on canvas,
71 x 45 in. (180.3 x 114.9 cm),
The National Gallery, London, Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917
Photo: ARTstor
Costume historians would recognize the shopgirl's fitted clothing as the up-to-date English fashion of the mid-1880‘s. The figures on the right are fashionistas of the earlier 1880s. The mother wears a 1881 ensemble characterized by a high bustle and tiered skirt. Renoir, as always, is meticulous in his clothing descriptions. Note the the footwear of the four right figures: both girls appear to be wearing Baby Jane type children shoes but the older sister sports dark spats covering her instep and ankle; the mother has on pumps with contrasting beige spat; and, peaking out from the other woman’s pleated skirt, are her shoes’ plain tips. Other well-observed details are the mother’s bracelets and the small buttons on the inside of her right hand glove. The little girl’s possessive grasp of her toy hoop and stick, the older sister’s affectionate touch on her younger sibling’s shoulder, the overlapping of numerous umbrellas and figures, make this one of Renoir’s best paintings.
Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) A Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877,
oil on canvas, 83 1/2 x 108 3/4 in. (212.2 x 276.2 cm),
Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worchester Collection, 1964
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Photo: ARTstor
I can not help but bring up another famous “umbrella” painting, Gustave Caillebotte’s A Paris Street; Rainy Day. Renoir and his close friend and fellow artist Caillebotte both exhibited at the 1877 Third Impressionist Exhibition. Caillebotte’s painting was in that show and, no doubt, Renoir saw it. Like Ford Motel Ts, the umbrellas in Caillebotte’s 1877 work and Renoir’s The Umbrellas (Les Parapluies) of 1881-5 confirm the devices early uniformity.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Dance at Bougival, 1883,
0il on canvas, 71 5/8 x 38 5/8 in. (181.9 x 98.1 cm)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Picture Fund
Photo: © 2012 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
In 1883, Renoir was preparing intensely for an exhibition and produced three canvases of dancing couples: Dance in the City, Dance in the Country and Dance at Bougival. They are all at the Frick. The later is the most romantic of the trio and charged with an eroticism the other two lack.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Detail of Dance at Bougival,
1883, oil on canvas,
71 5/8 x 38 5/8 in. (181.9 x 98.1 cm)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Picture Fund
Photo: ARTstor
Quite risqué for the time, the young female dancer wears no gloves. Skin touches skin as her partner’s left hand holds firmly to her uncovered right wrist. She rests her left hand gently about his neck. Their body language - faces near as the male bends toward her - suggests intimacy and seduction. Their dance embrace contrasts the more accepted hand to shoulder and palm to palm placement. As to be expected, the rendering of clothes is superb. The young woman’s red-trimmed frock swirls with the music and accentuates her luscious form.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Detail of Dance at Bougival,
1883, oil on canvas,
71 5/8 x 38 5/8 in. (181.9 x 98.1 cm)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Picture Fund
Photo: ARTstor
Ground litter, made up of cigarettes butts, spent matches, small bouquet, leaf and flower, allude to pleasures enjoyed.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Detail of Dance at Bougival,
1883, oil on canvas,
71 5/8 x 38 5/8 in. (181.9 x 98.1 cm)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Picture Fund
Photo: ARTstor
In the left background, a women, with her left hand under her chin, converses with the man seated at the same table. As if not to miss a word, she tilts her chair forward, balancing on its two front legs. He nonchalantly smokes a cigarette. Their unfinished drinks suggest slight intoxication. Behind them, a gentleman wearing a top hat approaches, perhaps to listen or enter into the chat.
Renoir typically used friends and colleagues for models. In Dance in the City, Suzanne Valadon, artist and model, partners with the writer and journalist Paul Lhote. Lhote also appears in Dance in the Country with Aline Charigot, the painter’s mistress and subsequent wife.
The couple depicted in Dance at Bougival had been difficult to determine. They resemble Valadon and Llote but not close enough to convince. The issue was clarified when an X-ray of the painting uncovered an earlier version of the female dancer. She looked like Aline Charigot. The final image reflects a mixture of Valadon and Charigot.
The male dancer was more likely based on Hippolyte-Alphonese Fournaise, the son of the owner of the Fournaise restaurant located in Chatou. Like Bougival, Chatou was a popular weekend gathering spot about nine miles from Paris and accessible by railroad.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1880-1881,
oil on canvas, 51 1/4 x 69 1/8 in. (130.175 x 175.5775 cm),
The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
Photo: ARTstor
Renoir began to go to there in the 1870s and he used the restaurant as a setting for the Phillips Collection’s Luncheon of the Boating Party. Llote, Charigot and Fourniase are in this painting.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Detail of Luncheon of the Boating Party,
1880-1881, oil on canvas,
51 1/4 x 69 1/8 in. (130.175 x 175.5775 cm),
The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
Photo: ARTstor
Llote is in the right rear between the gentleman wearing a black hat (the bureaucrat Eugène-Pierre Lestringuez) and a woman whose gloved hands are raised to her cheeks (the actress Jeanne Samary).
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Detail of Luncheon of the Boating Party,
1880-1881, oil on canvas,
51 1/4 x 69 1/8 in. (130.175 x 175.5775 cm),
The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
Photo: ARTstor
In the near left foreground, Charigot is seated playing with a small dog. Fournaise leans against the railing behind her.
The Dance at Bougival was last in New York in the Spring of 1886 when it was paired with Luncheon of the Boating Party at the first exhibition of Paris Impressionists in America. The Umbrellas (Les Parapluies) was also in that show. It was the only time the painting had been in the United States before the current Frick exhibition.
The works on view at Renoir, Impressionism, and Full-Length Painting may very well be the best of Renoir. No one knows if they will ever be together again. Make a visit.
Hint: The museum’s Spanish paintings and two full-length Whistler portraits were moved to the Oval Room for the duration of the show. Take a look. The impact of Renoir’s revolutionary style will intensify.
Renoir, Impressionism, and Full-Length Painting
February 7, 2012, through May 13, 2012
1 East 70th Street, Manhattan, New York
Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Sundays, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Closed Mondays and holidays
Extended Hours Event: Renoir Night
Date: Friday, April 27, 2012, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
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