Description:Turning frequently to his family for inspiration, this intimate image is a notional rendering of the artist's youngest son, Claude, who frequently served as one of Renoir’s favored subjects. Executed in a gestural fashion, the artist manipulates light and form to capture the jubilant contours of the child's face.
Created in 1908, this original etching is from the second state in black and white before the cancelled plate. Numbered 55/100 in pencil in the lower left margin, this work was printed on fine, laid paper with wide margins and a faint plate mark all around.
Claude Renoir, son of the artist, was born in 1901 when Pierre-Auguste Renoir was already 60 years of age. Michel Ferloni and Dominique Spies state, "it must have been a great joy for the nearly helpless Renoir to follow the smile or the games of this marvelous little being with chubby cheeks, still free as the air and bouncing with life, who was his son" (Ferloni, 56). This sense of fascination with his son is evident in the artist's delicate rendering of the petit nose and delicate lips. The child appears to be studying something just beyond the picture plane with an intent glare of childish curiosity.
Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
It is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work):
1. Delteil, L. (1999). Pierre-Auguste Renoir, L’œuvre grave et lithographié, Catalogue Raisonné. Hyman, A. (Ed.). Alan Wofsy Fine Arts: San Francisco. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 18 on pgs. 36-7.
2. Stella, J.G. The Graphic Work of Renoir, Catalogue Raisonné. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 18.
About the Framing:
This work is displayed in a robust, Baroque-inspired frame with dramatic contrasting tones of gold. The intricate moulding adds a sense of luminosity to the painting while the highlights of the leafy carving enhances the overall appearance of the image. The framing is completed with white, linen-wrapped mats and a matching gold inner fillet and set behind an archival Plexiglas® cover.
