Auguste Renoir in London

The National Gallery in London is hosting an exhibition of Pierre-Auguste RENOIR’s landscapes from 21 February to 20 May 2007. Whereas Renoir is essentially known to the public as a painter of intimist scenes and portraits, the 70 landscapes exhibited remind us just how much outdoor themes were also suited to Renoir’s soft touch and nuanced colours.
In a career spanning 60 years, Pierre Auguste Renoir executed more than 4,000 paintings and was constantly engaged in research to improve his technique. Never entirely satisfied with his results, he often had second thoughts that prompted him to wipe out or paint over previous work and he didn’t hesitate to change his style. In effect, we can identify four major periods in his life’s work. The first is impressionist, with priority given to motifs, executed with economic and light brush strokes. In these works, the scenes are primarily landscapes and leisure scenes, communicating the impression generated by a certain selected moment. Between 1883 and 1890, Renoir changed style, developing a sharper line and working with smoother materials. After the rigueur of this so-called “Ingresque” second period, he returned to using softer and more delicate brush strokes in a period referred to as his “pearly period” (1890-1897). Towards 1900, Renoir began to suffer from rheumatism that eventually led to paralysis of his legs and arms in 1912. He nevertheless continued to paint using a brush attached to his hand during the remaining seven years of his life.

In terms of market prices, Renoir’s record prices have been generated by works executed before 1890, i.e. from his Impressionist and Ingresque periods. The most prestigious works are sold by the auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s which generate more than 80% of total revenue from Renoir’s works on less than 60% of total transactions. Those collectors willing to spend several million dollars for a painting show a distinct preference for intimist scenes over landscapes. During the last speculative art market bubble (between 1989 and 1990), four of Renoir’s works sold for over 10 million dollars each. At the very peak of that bubble, in 1990, his Au Moulin de la Galette painted in the middle of his Impressionist period (1876) completely outstripped the estimate of 40/50 million dollars when it sold for USD 71 million! Since then none of his works has fetched such a high price; however, over the last 10 years, 5 auctions have resulted in figures beyond 10 million dollars. For example La liseuse (1877) has twice changed hands at above USD 10 million: the first time in 1989 at Christie’s NY, and then again in 2001 at Phillips, De Pury & Luxembourg NY where the work generated 12 million dollars (7 May 2001).

None of his landscapes has generated such high prices despite the fact that 15% of Renoir’s paintings sold at public auctions are essentially landscape themes. Small format landscapes (between 5 cm and 30 cm) painted in the South of France are relatively affordable at 15,000 to 80,0000 dollars. However, as soon as the scene contains people, the prices shoot up. For example, his Paysage aux personnages (23.6 x 20.5 cm) offered by Christie’s London on 7 February last, sold for GBP 85,000 (USD 166,966) after being estimated at between GBP 50,000 and 70,000, whereas the ‘inanimate’ Paysage à Cagnes carrying an estimate of GBP 80,000 ended up being bought in at the same sale despite its larger format (22.2 x 33 cm). Outdoor family scenes are highly sought after: Paysage à Cagnes avec femme et enfant (1910) sold for USD 1.1 million on 7 November 2006 at Sotheby’s New-York.

As a painter of the leisure activities of his time, Renoir painted numerous genre paintings that are extremely popular with art collectors. For example, his Femmes dans un jardin (1873) that sold once on 11 May 1993 at Sotheby’s NY for 6.1 million dollars, and then again in June 2006 at Sotheby’s London where it fetched 4.4 million pounds, (over 8 million dollars).With respect to his drawings, the same principle applies: animated scenes or portraits of women elicit much more demand than landscapes: an ink representing a small Jeune fille avec bouquet (1879) measuring 18 x 11.5 cm that sold for USD 32,000 on 8 November 1995 at Christie’s NY fetched USD 80,000 ten years later (5 May 2005) at the same auction house. The landscapes are a lot more affordable. A water colour entitled Vue du port des Martigues (20 x 16 cm) that sold for 15,000 Swiss francs (roughly USD 13,000) in June 1995 (at Kornfeld in Bern) was again offered for sale on 4 February 2004 at Sotheby’s London where it went under the hammer for GBP 9,000 (roughly USD 16,500). Although the majority of Renoir’s drawings do not cost more than USD 100,000, some of his pastel portraits fetch over a million dollars! The last Renoir drawing to reach such a high price was Étude de femme fetching USD 1.2 million on 8 November 2000 (Christie’s NY). His less worked drawings such as pencils, charcoals, and red chalks are cheaper than the pastels. For example, among the red chalks sold at the start of 2007, his Portrait de Jean (c1901) doubled its low estimate and sold for GBP 82,000 (over USD 160,000) on 8 February at Christie’s London.

Renoir also produced a sizeable quantity of engravings: more than 140 multiples were offered for public sales in 2006, mostly female subjects and portraits. Landscape engravings change hands for between 200 and 1,500 dollars on average making this type of work the most affordable access to Renoir’s œuvre. Lastly, Renoir also made a limited number of sculptures that appear rarely at auction: 17 three-dimensional pieces were offered for sale in 2006 compared with nearly 100 of his canvas paintings! Certain bronzes, often late casts, can be acquired for around USD 10,000 such as Tête de Coco created in 1907 and cast in 1955 that was bought by a non-professional for USD 11,000 on 3 May 2006 at Christie’s NY. However, the quality of the cast is a still a key factor since a slightly larger version of the same Tête de Coco cast roughly 10 years earlier sold for GBP 15,000 (over USD 27,000) a month later at the same auctioneer.