Renoir's painting of the Duchess of Alba is for sale at an antique shop in the USA.
Le chapeau aux cerises by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Sold at M.S. Rau.
The Duchess bought 'Le chapeau aux cerises' in 1973 and it was one of her favorite pieces. After her death, it ended up in the hands of her children. Its trail went cold until it resurfaced in an antique shop in New Orleans.
When we first acquired this piece in 2020, it was part of a significant American private collection ," says its owner, Bill Rau , from New Orleans , the city where his firm is based. "We are delighted to have the painting back ," the antique dealer notes. "A work like this becomes interwoven with family history, witnessing weddings, births, and celebrations. When an owner decides to part with it, it is a momentous decision. Owners of pieces of this caliber are not motivated solely by financial reasons; they seek the assurance that the work will be rigorously studied, presented impeccably, and entrusted to a buyer who understands its cultural and historical significance.
"A Renoir of this scale naturally draws the attention of both museums and the most sophisticated private collectors. Institutions recognize that this is not just another Impressionist painting, but a key document of Renoir's personal and artistic evolution, and an anchor work around which an entire room or exhibition could be built," explains Rau.
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