Le chapeau aux cerises by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
1841-1919 | French

Le chapeau aux cerises
(The Cherry Hat)

Signed “Renoir” (upper left)
Oil on canvas

This intimate portrait by the Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir captures the visage of the woman who would become his wife, Aline Charigot. Renoir met the young dressmaker when she began to model for him in 1880, and the couple married ten years later. She appears in several of his most important works, most notably his 1881 The Luncheon of the Boating Party (The Phillips Collection). Renoir continued to paint intimate and tender depictions of her throughout his career until her death in 1915; Le chapeau aux cerises is a particularly masterful example of these loving portraits.

Besides attesting to the affection of this couple, this work reflects an artist who was at the height of his powers, working in the mature Impressionist style for which he is most famous. His skill is abundantly clear in the portrait, with its richly blended brushwork and luxuriant rendering of skin, fruit and fabric. When compared to the more vigorous brushwork of his earlier works, Le chapeau aux cerises displays a languor and confidence that was a hallmark of Renoir’s style for the latter half of his career.

The work also reveals his genius for complementary colors with its bold turquoises and subtle greens paired with the pop of cherry red in Aline's hat. Characteristic of Renoir's Impressionist style, the loose, fluid brushwork of the background emphasizes the two-dimensional surface of the canvas. The flat color is reflective of Renoir's interest in Japanese prints, while the style is distinctly Impressionist.

Further setting apart the work is that it was once part of one of the most extraordinary fine art collections of the modern era, that of Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, the 18th Duchess of Alba. The Renoir hung in her Madrid palace, the Palacio de Liria, amid one of Europe’s most breathtaking private art collections until her death in 2014. To find a Renoir depicting such a personal subject, so masterfully composed and hailing from one of the most important collections in the world, is a truly rare opportunity.

Born in Limoges, France, in 1841, Renoir began his career as an apprentice to a painter of porcelain wares. He later moved to Paris at the age of 21, enrolling at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts. It was here, while studying under Charles Gleyre, that Renoir attained a tremendous appreciation for the academic style of painting, a quality that would last throughout his career. This was also the time during which he met Claude Monet and several other classmates, with whom he would later form the Impressionists.

Working closely with Monet, Renoir began experimenting with the portrayal of light and its effect on his canvases. The youngest member of the Impressionist movement, an astute Renoir, recognized how a subject was constantly changing due to the dynamic effects of light on color. Relying heavily upon his academic training that focused upon composition, lines and descriptive details, Renoir distinguished himself among his contemporaries. His intuitive use of color and expansive brushstroke, along with an acute attention to his subject, have placed him among the finest painters in history.

This work has been authenticated by the Wildenstein Institute, Paris (catalogue number 12490).

Circa 1884

Canvas: 21 3/4" high x 17 1/2" wide (55.25 x 44.45 cm)
Frame: 31" high x 26 3/4" wide x 3 1/2" deep (78.74 x 67.95 x 8.89 cm)

View the Dossier

Provenance:
Ambroise Vollard, Paris
Marcel Kapferer, Paris
Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, 1939
Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1943
Mrs Charles B.G. Murphy, Maine, USA
Mrs Charles Dewey Jr., New York
Marlborough Fine Art, London, 1972
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, Madrid, Spain
Private collection, Ohio
M.S. Rau, New Orleans
Private collection, Nebraska
M.S. Rau, New Orleans

Literature:
The Illustrated London News, 1939, vol.105, plate 111 (illustrated)

Exhibited:
Renoir, Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1943, no.95
French Portraits of the 19th Century, Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1948, no.15
Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Fine Art, London, 1972, no.76, illustrated
Art from the Collection of the House of Alba, Fundación Caja de Pensiones, Madrid, 1987
Treasures from the House of Alba: 500 Years of Art and Collecting, Meadows Museum, Dallas, 2016, no. 128, p. 333