Impressionist Paintings from the Durand-Ruel Collection to be Sold by Sotheby’s in New York Impressionist Paintings from the Durand-Ruel Collection to be Sold by Sotheby’s in New York -- Unseen for More than Half of a Century and Never Before Offered at Auction
News-Antique.com - Aug 13,2009 - New York - Impressionist Paintings from the Durand-Ruel Collection to be Sold by Sotheby’s in New York -- Unseen for More than Half of a Century and Never Before Offered at Auction -- Works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley will be Offered on the Evening of 4 November 2009 Sotheby’s 4 November 2009 Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York will feature seven paintings from the Durand-Ruel Collection, encompassing works by a number of the Impressionist masters that legendary art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel represented -- Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley. All but one work were acquired by Paul Durand-Ruel directly from the artist and all have remained in the family ever since. Many have not been exhibited since the 1950s and together the offering is estimated to bring $8.9/12.6 million (£5.4/7.7 million, €6.3/8.9 million). Early this fall, highlights will be exhibited in Paris, Hong Kong and London. A full exhibition schedule can be found on p. 3. Paul Durand-Ruel’s (1831-1922) impact on the history of art and the art market cannot be understated.
He revolutionized the relationship between artist and dealer and was responsible for bringing French Impressionism to the world through his galleries in London, New York and Paris. His bold decision to exhibit the Impressionists in New York in 1886 introduced enlightened American wealth to modern French painting. His dossier of American clients included distinguished names such as Havemeyer, Philips, Potter-Palmer and Pope. It was their generosity, together with Durand-Ruel’s vision, that helped to fill great American museum collections with Impressionist masterworks.
Included in the November offering are three works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Femme au chapeau blanc belongs to a series of oils that Renoir completed in the early 1890s of young women wearing elaborately decorated chapeaux (est. $2.5/3.5 million, £1.5/2 million, €1.8/2.5 million). During the 1890s, Renoir’s life was divided into two distinct parts, both reflected in his work. On one side were his elite clientele whom he depended upon for portrait commissions and on the other were the lesser-known models, most often young girls, whose youth and beauty enraptured Renoir. While painting formal society portraits sustained the artist’s way of life, his studies of unidentified young women allowed him greater freedom of execution. The present picture is an example of Renoir’s bravura - his rapid feathery brushstrokes lavish attention upon the
crisp fabric of the model’s dress, the pleating over her shoulder and the airy crinoline of her hat. Also by Renoir is Baigneuse, which offers a superb example of his later style, exemplifying his ability to capture the female form with his fluid, loose brushwork (est. $700,000/1 million, £400/600,000, €500/700,000). His masterly painting technique builds up a shimmering paint surface that gives his late nudes their distinctive quality; a style that allowed him to showcase an astonishing mastery of a broad range of painterly effects. It was these late monumental nudes that for many comprised Renoir’s greatest artistic achievement and provided an important source of inspiration for
