Auguste Renoir

French painter, 1841-1919

"Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that ""Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau"". Renoir's paintings are notable for their vibrant light and saturated color, most often focusing on people in intimate and candid compositions. The female nude was one of his primary subjects. Two of Renoir's paintings have sold for more than US$70 million. Bal au moulin de la Galette sold for $78.1 million in 1990."

Source: Wikipedia

Renoir, Auguste

französischer Maler des Impressionismus (1841-1919). Autograph letter signed („Renoir“). Paris. 8vo. 2 SS.
$ 6,926 / 6.500 € (48493)

In the shaky handwriting of his old age to an acquaintance of him, asking to keep an eye on his house near Nice since its administrator had died: „Mon cher ami | La mort de notre fermier nous met dans un grand embarras. La maison ne sera pas tout à fait seul quoique Louise sera là mardi ou jeudi mais je me permet de compter sur vous pour faire jeter un coup d’œil de temps en temps du reste s’il arrivai quelque chose Louise irai vous trouver car nous ne pourrons pas arriver avant 12 ou 19 jours. Ma femme se joint à moi pour vous envoyer à tous les deux nos meilleures amit[i]és [...]“.

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

französischer Maler des Impressionismus (1841-1919). Eigenhändiger Brief mit Unterschrift. 18 rue Houdon [Paris]. 8vo. 1 p.
$ 6,180 / 5.800 € (83275)

Schöner Brief an Claude Monet „Mon cher ami, je n'ai pas de veine depuis lundi […] je suis malade à ne manger ni dormir et ne suis pas encore sorti de la Rue Houdon moi qui avait tout besoin de travailler. Ca va mieux et j'espère être mieux d'ici 2 ou 3 jours mais ce temps perdu me désole il sera difficile à rattraper. J'avais la tête comme un boisseau [...] aujourd'hui je suis moins ridicule et je souffre moins. Toujours mes dents. accompagné d'un chaud et froid. enfin ca va mieux.“ - Auf der Rückseite die eigenh. Adressangabe von Monet „33 Tite Street Chelsea“. Auguste Renoir unterhielt sein Atelier in der rue Houdon in Paris von 1883 bis 1886.

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

französischer Maler des Impressionismus (1841-1919). Eigenhändiger Brief mit Unterschrift. Paris. 8vo. 1 p. Gerahmt.
$ 6,926 / 6.500 € (83907)

An den Schriftsteller Emile Zola über einen Brief von Cézanne: „Vous avez dû recevoir une lettre de Cézanne à propos d’une lettre au Ministre. Ma fureur est passée et je ne proteste plus. Veuillez je vous prie mettre ma lettre au panier et n’y plus penser. Je ne vous remercie pas moins ainsi que Cézanne de la bonne intention.“

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

French painter (1841-1919). Autograph Carte Pneumatique Signed ("Renoir"). N. p. 70:125 mm. Single page, five lines of text in black ink, and addressed on verso.
$ 5,861 / 5.500 € (48210/BN30591)

To [Julie Manet, daughter of the Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot and her husband Eugene Manet]. A change of plans, asking her to change the day they planned to meet. Renoir is unable to see her on Saturday, as Pierre (his son) is going out and Renoir will arrive at 7:00. - Paper toned, somewhat faded.

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

French painter (1841-1919). Autograph letter signed ("Renoir"). N. p. 8vo. 1 page.
$ 6,926 / 6.500 € (72303/BN46085)

To a "Cher Ami", in French, expressing his distress that the young girl teaching "Coco" (his youngest child Claude) to read should be upset, and asking whom he should address to repair this injustice ("Je ne puis laisser cette jeune fille dans cet etat par ma faute [...] j'irai jusqu'au bout pour réparer cette injustice").

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

French painter (1841-1919). Autograph letter signed. No place or date. 8vo. 1½ pp. on bifolium.
$ 6,926 / 6.500 € (82603/BN53785)

In French, to an unidentified recipient, apologizing for not having been able to respond to an invitation to her Château and discussing his private life and sorrows: "I am much annoyed because I still cannot respond to your very kind invitation. I am with the little Manets whom I cannot leave. Jean has a very bad cold, I am told that he should not travel by train for a long time. Anyway. I am in a squeeze in a way that I cannot handle. I have the greatest desire to go and see your castle and especially the chatelain who is so kind.

But I never know how to do what I want. Nobody wants to move here. I hope that you will stay for a long time because I am afraid I cannot leave before the end of the month. Excuse me, please, and send me your sympathy [...]". - The "little Manets" are probably the children of Julie Manet and Ernest Rouart. Julie's parents Berthe Morisot and Eugène Manet had been close friends of Renoir until their untimely deaths, and Renoir portrayed Julie several times as a child. Pierre Renoir's second son Jean was born in 1894 and became a famous film director. - With a minor tear and a deeper tear in the fold. Lower half of the second leaf clipped without affecting the text..

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

French painter (1841-1919). Autograph letter signed "Renoir". N. p. 4to. 1 p.
$ 5,115 / 4.800 € (86129/BN57040)

Intimate letter to a female friend touching upon various topics. Renoir first thanks the recipient for a letter and cough syrup, emphasizing that he is doing much better "apart from some remaining fits of coughing". With respect to his health, Renoir complains about his laziness and that he is letting himself go. He then enthusiastically comments on the superb roses in his garden, "like in springtime". In the final part of the letter, Renoir takes up the cudgels for working parents and mothers in particular, taking as an example Renée Jolivet, the nanny of his youngest son Claude, whom he had portrayed holding Claude in 1903: "J'ai écrit à mon ami pour lui dire ce que je lui ai dit cent fois que l'on doit ses enfants un métier à défaut de fortune et même avec de la fortune, comme Renée en a un.

C'est idiot de ne pas l'aider à vivre avec. Les filles de concierges ont toutes les chances. On les admire et on les envoie à temps au conservatoire, et elles ne s'en portent pas plus mal". - Well preserved..

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

French painter (1841-1919). Autograph letter signed ("ARenoir"). Capri. 28.12.1881. 8vo. 1 p. on bifolium.
$ 4,795 / 4.500 € (86177/BN57129)

In French, to his friend, the collector Victor Chocquet (1821-91), sending good wishes for the New Year from Capri: "I am writing to you from an ideal small island, where one lives outside in plain sunshine surrounded by the blue sea, and orange trees, and olive trees and flowers. Otherwise, I am thinking of Paris, of the old friends that I left there, and I do not wish to let a new year come round without renewing the sincere marks of my deep friendship and gratitude to them. Therefore I wish you, my good friend, and Madame Chocquet plenty of years, one better than the other.

I would not tell you anything else in this letter". In a short postscript to this charming letter, Renoir sends greetings to Paul Cézanne: "A good handshake for Cézanne when you will see him". - Chocquet had discovered Renoir in the late 1870s and commissioned several paintings - an important development in the artist's career. Renoir's 1881/82 trip to Italy, where he studied the masterworks of Titian and Raphael, marks the beginning of his shift toward post-Impressionism. His small oil painting "Capri marina" is already indicative of this change, especially Renoir's later colour palette. - Traces of folds. Some browning..

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

French painter (1841-1919). Autograph letter signed ("Renoir"). Algiers. 8vo. 1 p. on bifolium. In purple ink.
$ 4,795 / 4.500 € (86178/BN57130)

In French to his friend, the collector Victor Chocquet (1821-91), sending greetings to Choquet, his wife, and Paul Cézanne, complaining about the influx of western painters to Algiers and indicating his current address: "If you see Cézanne, a good handshake. I work a little. I will try to bring back figures but it is increasingly difficult, too many painters in Algiers". - Chocquet had discovered Renoir in the late 1870s and commissioned several paintings - an important development in the artist's career.

Renoir's visits to Algeria, Spain, and Italy in 1881/82 mark the beginning of his shift toward post-Impressionism. The trip to Algeria in particular was inspired by Eugène Delacroix. - Traces of folds. With a minor tear..

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

French painter (1841-1919). Autograph letter signed ("Renoir"). Essoyes. 29.12.1888. 8vo. 1 p. on bifolium.
$ 4,795 / 4.500 € (86179/BN57131)

To the painter Jacques-Émile Blanche (1861-1942), announcing his return to Paris and a visit to Blanche's studio in order to see the progress of the young painter: "Je suis à la campagne depuis fort longtemps et je rentrerai à Paris vers le 5 ou 6 Janvier. J'irai voir les études nombreuses que vous avez du faire depuis le temps que je ne vous ai vu, certain de trouver encore des progrès. Je pense que je vous trouverai en bonne santé ainsi que votre père et votre mère. J'irai me faire pardonner ma longue absence [...].

Je ne vous en dis pas plus. J'aime mieux causer que d'écrire". In a short postscript, Renoir explains that a painful dental inflammation delays his return: "Je ne puis rentre maintenant à cause d'une fluxion de dent, qui me bouche un oeil et me fait souffrir beaucoup". - Jacques-Émile Blanche was to become one of the most sought-after portraitists of the French upper-class and artistic élite. His 1892 portrait of Marcel Proust at the Musée d'Orsay is widely known today. - Very slightly browned. With collector's marks in pencil..

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

French painter (1841-1919). Autograph letter signed "Renoir". [Paris]. 8vo. 1 p. With autograph envelope.
$ 6,926 / 6.500 € (86180/BN57132)

To Stephane Mallarmé, explaining that he has not forgotten his portrait but had been suffering from a toothache and fever with chills. He promises that they will be more at ease after "this idiotic exhibition". Following a somewhat cryptic remark that he would like to put his painting on display "before the face that it makes", Renoir mentions the art critic Roger Marx and a Mr Roujou, who were apparently involved in the exhibition: "Je voulais vous parler de votre portrait vous dire que je ne vous oubliais pas mais j'ai mal aux dents.

Voilà deux jours que j'ai la fièvre des frissons. Aussitôt cette idiote exposition nous serons plus tranquilles. Je voudrais bien mettre mon tableau voir avant la tête qu'il fait. Je n'ose pas à cause de Marx. Je voudrais y être autorisé par M. Roujon. Mais je n'ai pas le temps. Tampis". Today, Renoir's portrait of Mallarmé is on display at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. - Traces of folds. Somewhat creased and a minimal tear to the lower margin. The envelope with collector's note in pencil..

buy now

Renoir, Auguste

French painter (1841-1919). Autograph letter signed ("Renoir"). Paris. 8vo. 1 p.
$ 6,926 / 6.500 € (91585/BN60906)

Charming letter to Claude Monet, congratulating him on the marriage of his daughter-in-law Germaine Hochedé with the lawyer Albert Salerou and sending well-wishes to his son Michel Monet, who had broken his leg in an automobile accident, as his student Jeanne Baudot had informed Renoir about the accident "the moment that I wrote to send my felicitations to Madame Salerou". The letter in full: "Au moment où j'écrivais pour envoyer mes félicitations à Madame Salerou, Mademoiselle Baudot me dit qu'elle a lu dans le journal que ton fils s'était cassé une jambe.

Comme je sais ce que c'est que les cassures je l'en plains davantage en espérant qu'il n'y a pas complication. J'espère par l'un ou l'autre avoir des nouvelles. Sois mon interprète auprès de ta femme et auprès de ton fils pour leur dire combien je suis touché de cet accident". - Claude Monet was an early enthusiast of automobiles and presented a quadricycle to his son Michel, who was equally fascinated with cars, of which he would own several. A report on the accident in the New York Herald from Thursday, 20 November 1902 reads: "M. Michel Monet, son of M. Claude Monet, the artist, met with an automobile accident at Vernon. He was thrown against a tree and sustained a fracture of his leg." Michel Monet would die in a car accident in Vernon on 3 February 1966. - Minimal foxing..

buy now