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Lot Essay
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue critique of Pierre-Auguste Renoir established from the archives of Fraçois Daulte, Durand-Ruel, Venturi, Vollard, and Wildenstein.
The delicate and translucent luminosity of Paysage ensoleillé suggests that this work belongs to a period before Renoir's trip to North Africa in 1881. After this trip Renoir's palette became more intense and saturated. It is Renoir's approach to landscape painting as he explored it in the Normandy landscapes of 1879-1880, which appears to be most present in Paysage ensoleillé.
Renoir first began to paint outside of the Paris region in the late 1870s. One of his key patrons in these years was the banker Paul Bérard (1833-1905), who invited Renoir to stay with him at his country estate, the Château de Wargemont, near Dieppe. Renoir's first visit to Wargemont in the summer of 1879 produced a significant experimental body of work and included his tour de force, Paysage à Wargemont, now in the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio. Renoir explored the countryside around the Château de Wargemont extensively during his stays with the Bérards, liking it so much as to encourage his friend and patron, Madame Charpentier, to rent a summer villa in nearby Puys and enthused upon the pleasures of 'a charming promenade' he has just made: 'From Dieppe you go to Ancourt via Martin-Eglise. Stop for a second at the Moulin d'Ancourt, which is adorable and not far away. If you have time, return via Sauchay-le-Haut, where there is the avenue of a château that is superb. You can return to Dieppe on the Envermeau road, and the entire journey takes only two hours'' (Renoir quoted in exh. cat, Renoir Landscapes 1865-1883, London, 2007, p. 194). It is tempting to think that Paysage ensoleillé is a record of such a walk in the countryside in circa 1880. Renoir recorded his Normandy landscapes with speed and assurance and traces of his brushwork are everywhere apparent in the paintings of 1879-1880. Renoir primed his canvas with an opaque white layer over a canvas with fine weave. The paint was then applied in thin translucent veils of colour, in a delicate mixure of emerald, green, mustard-yellow and purple, which gain their luminosity from the white underpinning. In Paysage ensoleillé Renoir's technique has formed a landscape of considerable freshness, depth and complexity.
The delicate and translucent luminosity of Paysage ensoleillé suggests that this work belongs to a period before Renoir's trip to North Africa in 1881. After this trip Renoir's palette became more intense and saturated. It is Renoir's approach to landscape painting as he explored it in the Normandy landscapes of 1879-1880, which appears to be most present in Paysage ensoleillé.
Renoir first began to paint outside of the Paris region in the late 1870s. One of his key patrons in these years was the banker Paul Bérard (1833-1905), who invited Renoir to stay with him at his country estate, the Château de Wargemont, near Dieppe. Renoir's first visit to Wargemont in the summer of 1879 produced a significant experimental body of work and included his tour de force, Paysage à Wargemont, now in the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio. Renoir explored the countryside around the Château de Wargemont extensively during his stays with the Bérards, liking it so much as to encourage his friend and patron, Madame Charpentier, to rent a summer villa in nearby Puys and enthused upon the pleasures of 'a charming promenade' he has just made: 'From Dieppe you go to Ancourt via Martin-Eglise. Stop for a second at the Moulin d'Ancourt, which is adorable and not far away. If you have time, return via Sauchay-le-Haut, where there is the avenue of a château that is superb. You can return to Dieppe on the Envermeau road, and the entire journey takes only two hours'' (Renoir quoted in exh. cat, Renoir Landscapes 1865-1883, London, 2007, p. 194). It is tempting to think that Paysage ensoleillé is a record of such a walk in the countryside in circa 1880. Renoir recorded his Normandy landscapes with speed and assurance and traces of his brushwork are everywhere apparent in the paintings of 1879-1880. Renoir primed his canvas with an opaque white layer over a canvas with fine weave. The paint was then applied in thin translucent veils of colour, in a delicate mixure of emerald, green, mustard-yellow and purple, which gain their luminosity from the white underpinning. In Paysage ensoleillé Renoir's technique has formed a landscape of considerable freshness, depth and complexity.