Sold for $524,000

This lot will be included in the forthcoming Renoir Digital Catalogue Raisonné, currently being prepared under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc. It is also accompanied by a copy of a photo-certificate issued by François Daulte, dated July 24, 1984.

Provenance:
The Artist
Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, acquired from the Artist, October 26, 1901 (stock no. 6753)
Paul Cassirer, Berlin, acquired from the above, July 7, 1911
Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, acquired from the above
Eddie Duchin, New York, acquired from the above, c. 1930
Private Collection, by descent from above, 1951
Robert H. Everitt, Madrid, by descent from above, as of 1980
Sold: Hôtel Président, Geneva, May 7, 1984, Lot 127
Daniel Varenne, Geneva, acquired at the above sale
Island Weiss Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner, June 21, 2001

Exhibited:
Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Tableaux par A. Renoir, June 1902, no. 4 (as Villefranche)
Dresden, Kunstsalon Ernst Arnold, Ausstellung von Gemälden französischer Künstler, September 5 - 30, 1902, no. 29 (as Blick auf Villa Franca)

Lot note:
Renoir first traveled to the south of France in 1882, to visit fellow artist and friend Paul Cézanne in Aix-en-Provence. His discovery of the region and its surroundings – including further south towards the French Riviera – bathed in sunlight, had a strong impact on the artist’s palette, offering him a whole new range of luminous color tones. Renoir frequently returned to the area and began to make extended stays in 1898/99, partly to alleviate his rheumatoid arthritis, but also because the vibrant landscape presented an opportunity to further develop his integration of Classicism and Impressionism. The Arcadian views provided an infinite source of inspiration for the artist in his final years.

In these later years, Renoir devoted himself increasingly to landscapes. Though he usually painted inside houses and their grounds, the artist often ventured out to the surrounding countryside. These informal landscapes offered Renoir the freedom to improvise and experiment outside the constraints of conventional notions of composition and finish. Speaking on the south of France more generally, and the feeling it evoked within him, Renoir reported that, “In this marvelous country, it seems as if misfortune cannot befall one; one is cosseted by the atmosphere” (Renoir, Hayward Gallery, London, 1985-86, p. 268).

With its expressive brushstrokes and sparkling color, La Baie de Villefranche-sur-Mer, 1899, is suggestive of the artist’s feelings of the region. Directly to the east of Nice, in the Côte d’Azur, the town of Villefranche-sur-Mer is set at the foot of a natural amphitheater of hills. Renoir depicts the town and bay from a point somewhere to the southeast. The jut of land, occupied by an impressive white home, may be Pointe du Rubé, though the structure itself no longer seems to exist. The sun-washed view is woven loosely together with variegated brushstrokes to form a colorful pattern, in which the clustered dwellings are overwhelmed by the sweeping sky and exuberant, untamed vegetation. The warm tone and radiant light beautifully capture the lush, serene environment. The present view is an evocative example of Renoir’s landscapes of the French Riviera and demonstrates Renoir’s mastery at capturing the subtleties of natural light, a central tenet of Impressionism.