Pierre-Auguste Renoir
French, 1841–1919
Self-Portrait
c. 1875
When Renoir made this self-portrait in 1875, his paintings were bringing in little income. The artist presents himself with unkempt hair and beard, yet smartly dressed in a striped shirt and dark blue necktie. The textured paint—almost transparent in some places, thickly applied in others—suggests he was experimenting with technique. This work was shown at the second Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1876 and eventually purchased by an important collector, Dr. Georges de Bellio, who Renoir claimed had “gone crazy” for it.
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 15 3/8 x 12 7/16 in. (39.1 x 31.6 cm) Frame: 22 1/2 x 19 13/16 x 2 3/8 in. (57.2 x 50.3 x 6 cm) |
| Object Number | 1955.584 |
| Acquisition | Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Self-Portrait, c. 1875, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.584
Select Bibliography
Néret, Gilles. Renoir: Painter of Happiness 18411919. Cologne: Taschen GmbH, 2001.
Richard R. Brettell. Impression: Painting Quickly in France, 1860-1890. New Haven: Yale University Press in association with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. 2000.
High Museum of Art, Atlanta. A Passion for Renoir: Five Great Paintings from the Clark Art Institute. Jan. 10-Mar. 3, 2002.
Conforti, Michael, et al. The Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven: distributed by Yale University Press, 2006.
. Second Impressionist Exhibition. 1876.
Paris: Musée de l'Orangerie.. Exposition Renoir 1841-1919.. 1933..
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.. Exhibit Six: Impressionist Paintings.. Opened Sept. 18, 1956..
Art Institute of Chicago.. Paintings by Renoir. Feb. 3-April 1, 1973.. 1973..
Kern, Steven, et al. A Passion for Renoir: Sterling and Francine Clark Collect, 19161951. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1996
Washington: The Phillips Collection.. Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party." Sept. 21, 1996-Feb. 9, 1997. Cat. by Eliza E. Rathbone et al.
Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada. Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age. June 27-Sept. 14, 1997; Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 17, 1997-Jan. 4, 1998; Kimbell Art Museum, Feb. 8-April 26, 1998. (Exh. cat. by Colin Bailey et al.). National Gallery of Canada and Yale University Press, London..
National Gallery, London. Impression: Painting Quickly in France, 1860-1890. Nov. 1, 2000-Jan. 28, 2001. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, March 2-May 20, 2001; Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Jun. 16-Sep. 9, 2001. 2000. (Clark only).
Théodore Duret.. Renoir.. Paris.. 1924..
Julius Meier-Graefe.. Renoir.. Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann.. 1929..
Barnes, Albert C. and Violette de Mazia. The Art of Renoir. New York. 1935.
R. H. Wilenski.. Modern French Painters.. New York.. 1940..
John Rewald.. The History of Impressionism.. New York: Museum of Modern Art.. 1961, 1973..
de Kooning, Elaine. "Renoir: as if by Magic." Art News 55 (Oct. 1956) :pp. 43-45, 66-67.
Daulte, François . "Renoir: Son Oeuvre Regardé sous l'Angle d'un Album de Famille." Connaissance des Arts, no. 153 (Nov. 1964).
Robert Reiff.. Renoir.. McGraw-Hill.. 1968..
Time-Life Books.. The World of Manet.. Time-Life.. 1969..
Remus Niculescu.. Georges de Bellio l'Ami des Impressionnistes.. 1970..
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970.
Pierre Cabanne.. Renoir.. Paris: Réalités-Hachette.. 1970..
Elda Fezzi.. L'opera complete di Renoir, nel periodo impressionista 1869-1883.. Milan: Rizzoli.. 1972..
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972.
Keith Wheldon.. Renoir and His Art.. London: Hamlyn Group.. 1975..
Tasuo Yoshikado, ed.. The Masterpieces by Great Masters of Modern Art, vol. 2, Renoir.. Tokyo: Gakken Co.. 1976..
. Renoir. Great Masters of Modern Art. 9. Tokyo: Kodansha. 1979.
David Thomas.. Renoir.. London: The Medici Society.. 1980..
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984.
White, Barbara Ehrlich. Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters. New York: Abrams, 1984.
Bruce Bernard.. The Impressionist Revolution.. London: Orbis..
Pascal Bonafoux.. The Impressionists: Portraits and Confidences.. New York: Rizzoli.. 1986..
Melissa McQuillan.. Impressionist Portraits.. London: Thames & Hudson.. 1987..
Bernard Denvir, ed.. The Impressionists.. London: Thames & Hudson.. 1987..
John O'Brian.. Degas to Matisse: The Maurice Wertheim Collection.. New York: Abrams.. 1988..
Horst Keller.. Auguste Renoir.. Munich: Bruckmann.. 1987..
. The Great Artists: The Impressionists. London: Marshall Cavendish. 1987.
Sophie Monneret.. Renoir.. Paris: Editions Chêne.. 1989..
Distel, Anne. Les connectionneurs des impressionnistes: Amateurs et marchands. Dudingen/Guin (Switzerland): Editions Trio. 1989.
Patrick Bade.. Renoir. The Masterworks.. London: Studio Editions.. 1989..
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992.
Art Exhibitions Australia.. Renoir: Master Impressionist. Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, July 30-Sept. 11, 1994; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Sept. 19-Oct. 30, 1994; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Nov, 6, 1994-Jan. 15, 1995. Cat. by John House.
Georgia Sion.. Renoir's Women.. London: Ash & Hugton/Pavilion.. 1992..
Ivinski, Patricia R. "Robert Sterling Clark as a Collector of Renoir." The Magazine Antiques 62, no. 4 (October 1997): 532–35.
Druick, Douglas. Renoir: Artists in Focus.. Chicago, IL: The Art Institute of Chicago.. 1997.
Mary Tompkins Lewis.. Cezanne. Art & Ideas.. London: Phaidon Press Limited.. 2000..
François Daulte.. Auguste Renoir, Catalogue Raisonné de l'Oeuvre Peint.. Paris: Durand-Ruel.. 1971..
Cros, Phillippe. Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Paris: Finest S.A./Editions Pierre Terrail. 2003:pp. 98, 152.
Dumas, Ann and John Collins. Renoir's Women. The Columbus Museum of Art, September 23, 2005- January 15, 2006. London and New York: Merrell. 2005.
Delafond, Marianne. À l'apogée de l'Impressioinnisme: La Collection Georges de Bellio. Musée Marmottan, October 9, 2007- February 3, 2008. La Bibliothèque des Arts. 2007.
Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012.
Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011.
EUROPEAN PAINTINGS CATALOGUE ENTRY
Provenance
The artist, to Chocquet (c. 1875); Victor Chocquet, Paris (c. 1875-76, sold to de Bellio); Georges de Bellio, Paris (1876-d. 1894); Victorine and Eugène Donop de Monchy, Paris, de Bellio’s daughter and son-in-law, by descent (1894--1917, sold to Rosenberg, 4 June 1917);¹ [Paul Rosenberg, Paris, from 1917]; Henry Bernstein, Paris (by 1929-1939, sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, 14 Feb. 1939, as agent for Clark); Robert Sterling Clark (1939-1955); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955. 1. There is a handwritten receipt for this sale from Donop de Monchy to Rosenberg in the Rosenberg Archives. The Paul Rosenberg Archives, a gift of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg, I.C.6.a., The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York.
