A three-dimensional bronze bust of the artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir wearing a hat.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

Renoir’s bust portrays the artist in his later years, his narrow face has wrinkles under the eyes and cheeks, no smile, long pronounced nose, moustache and short beard that comes to a point. His neck leans slightly forward, his eyes look forward towards the right. He wears an informal hat with a brim. The color of the sculpture is deep dark brown.

Gallery Text

This bronze is one of only a few portraits Maillol ever made, and he described the process of depicting fellow artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) as arduous and complicated. The impressionist painter suffered from health problems in his later years, and at the time of this portrait the effects of his various ailments were acutely visible. Maillol accurately registered some of those symptoms in his portrait of the artist wearing his favorite hat, showing the painter’s sagging facial muscles and drooping mouth. This sculpture is one of a pair of works commissioned by the dealer Ambroise Vollard, who also paid Renoir to paint a portrait of him in which he contemplates a statuette by Maillol.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1951.80
People
Aristide Maillol, French (Banyuls-sur-Mer, France 1861 - 1944 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France)
Title
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Bust of Renoir
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
1906
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/228476

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1220, European Art, 19th–20th century, Collection of Maurice Wertheim, Class of 1906
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast, sand
Dimensions
41.6 x 24.4 x 27.3 cm (16 3/8 x 9 5/8 x 10 3/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: proper l. side of base: M in oval
  • exhibition label: inside bust, paper, German: [per conservation file, partial label:] Kunsthandlung Hugo
  • exhibition label: inside bust, paper: [per conservation file, 1963 exhibition label]
  • exhibition label: inside bust, paper: [per conservation file]
  • exhibition label: inside bust, paper: [per conservation file:] 4472.38

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Maurice Wertheim, New York (by 1944); bequest to Fogg Art Museum, 1951.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest from the Collection of Maurice Wertheim, Class of 1906
Copyright
© Estate of Aristide Maillol, Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Accession Year
1951
Object Number
1951.80
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK HAS SIGNIFICANT LOAN RESTRICTIONS BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Publication History

  • Centennial Loan Exhibition, 1841-1941, Renoir, for the benefit of the Free French Relief Committee, exh. cat., W. Bradford Press (New York, NY, 1941), pp. 111, 170-171, cat. no. 89, repr.
  • Alfred M. Frankfurter, "Today's Collectors: Modern Milestones", Art News (June 1946), vol. XLV, no. 4, p. 64
  • French Painting since 1870, lent by Maurice Wertheim, Class of 1906, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1946), p. 73, repr.
  • The Maurice Wertheim Catalogue: Modern French Art-- Monet to Picasso, exh. cat., North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh, NC, 1960), pp. 72-73, repr.
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection: Manet to Picasso, exh. cat., The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Houston, TX, 1962), p. 68, pl. 32
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, exh. cat., Maine State Museum (Augusta, ME, 1972), no. 12, repr.
  • John Coolidge, "Maurice and Cecile Wertheim", Fogg Art Museum Newsletter, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, March 1975), p. 5, repr.
  • Barbara Ehrlich White, Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1984), p. 235
  • Vivien Raynor, "Art: Impressionist Show at the I.B.M. Gallery" [review], The New York Times (New York, NY, April 26, 1985), p. C24
  • John O'Brian, Degas to Matisse: the Maurice Wertheim Collection, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. and Fogg Art Museum (New York, NY and Cambridge, MA, 1988), no. 40, pp. 136-138, repr. p. 137
  • Elizabeth M. Rudy, "Researching the Wertheim Collection at the Harvard Art Museums", Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals (Summer 2014), Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 301-6

Exhibition History

  • Centennial Loan Exhibition, 1841-1941, Renoir, for the benefit of the Free Frenc, Duveen Galleries, New York, 11/08/1941 - 12/06/1941
  • French Painting since 1870 lent by Maurice Wertheim, Class of 1906, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 06/01/1946 - 09/07/1946; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 07/01/1953 - 09/13/1953
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 07/01/1952 - 09/14/1952
  • French Paintings Since 1870 from the Maurice Wertheim Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 06/01/1953 - 09/30/1953
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 06/15/1957 - 09/15/1957
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 06/10/1958 - 08/31/1958
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection: Modern French Art--Monet to Picasso, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, 06/17/1960 - 09/04/1960
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection: Manet to Picasso, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, 06/13/1962 - 09/02/1962
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 06/20/1963 - 09/01/1963
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, 06/24/1965 - 09/07/1965
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, 09/03/1968 - 09/22/1968
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Maine State Museum, Augusta, 06/01/1972 - 09/01/1972
  • Manet to Matisse: The Maurice Wertheim Collection, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, New York, 04/09/1985 - 05/25/1985
  • Re-View: S427 Impressionist & Postimpressionist Art, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/02/2008 - 06/18/2011
  • 32Q: 1220 Wertheim, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu