RENOIR (PIERRE-AUGUSTE) Two autograph letters signed ('Renoir'), in French, the first signed twice to his friend Téodor de Wyzewa ('Mon cher ami'), on squared paper, saying he has not yet received his new book as Jeanne Baudot has taken it and '...folle de joie...' is showing it to everyone, but is proud of the work of his friend, continuing to say he is near Grasse in '...un endroit admirable... en pleine campagne maison saine et superbe à 400 m au-dessus de la mer...' , and that he will find him '...très chouette...', asking after Madame de Wyzewa and the little girl; the second to Charlotte Lysès, wife of actor Sacha Guitry ('Madame'), advising her that he had to go suddenly to Nice to see a surgeon following her visit as he could not find a doctor at the clinic ('...J'ai envoyé mon infirmier à la clinique qui est fermée et pas de médecins...'), with autograph envelope, 3 pages in all, dust-staining, some discolouration, creased at folds, 8vo, Route de Magagnosc, Grasse and Les Collettes, Cagnes, 10 January 1900 and 27 November 1914 (3) Footnotes: 'UN ENDROIT ADMIRABLE... EN PLEINE CAMPAGNE MAISON SAINE ET SUPERBE À 400M AU-DESSUS DE LA MER'. Renoir spent the winter months of 1899 and 1900 at Magagnosc, just 5km from Grasse in order to paint in warmer climes. From here he writes to his friend Téodor de Wyzewa (1862-1917), Polish-born writer, critic and translator whose anthology Ecrivains Etrangers was published in 1900, presumably the book to which Renoir refers. De Wyzewa had been friends with Renoir since the mid 1880's, had written a complementary article about the artist in L'Art dans Les Deux Mondes in December 1890, and was instrumental in persuading Robert de Bonnieres, a writer for Le Figaro to commission Renoir to paint a portrait of his wife. In the spring of 1891, Renoir and his family rented a house with the de Wyzewas at Tamaris-sur-Mer. This letter is quoted from in Barbara Ehrlich White, Renoir: An Intimate Biography, 2017 Renoir's second letter is to the actress Charlotte Lysès, wife of Sacha Guitry (1885-1957), renowned actor of stage and screen, director, screenwriter and playwright. The couple have evidently visited Renoir at his home in Cagnes, only for him to be taken ill after their visit. It may be that Guitry was filming Renoir for his first film for cinema, Ceux de chez nous (Those of our Home), which was released the following year. A patriotic celebration of the great French men and women of the day, the silent film included appearances by Sarah Bernhardt, Claude Monet, Auguste Rodin, Edgar Degas, Edmond Rostand, Camille Saint-Saens and, of course, Renoir. The footage still survives and shows an elderly Renoir smoking and painting in his studio, a brush clutched in his bandaged arthritic hand. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing