Pierre-Auguste Renoir
1841-1919 | French

Madeleine
(Buste de femme avec fleurs dans les cheveux)

Signed “Renoir” (upper right)
Oil on canvas

This intimate portrait by Impressionism’s leading figure painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir captures the visage of Madeleine Bruno. Entitled Madeleine, the exceptional oil on canvas examines femininity, one of Renoir’s favorite themes, and exhibits the artist's soft brushwork, rich color palette and a celebration of beauty and warmth that are essential to Renoir's compositions.

The young model appears lit from within, with flushed cheeks and rouged lips. Her eyes look towards the distance, beyond the viewer, and the vibrant yellows and reds of her dress and the flower in her dark hair contrast the cooler blues and greens of the background. Exuding a feminine innocence and delicate sensitivity, Renoir’s effusive brushstrokes give the composition a hazy, dreamlike air while maintaining a strong likeness to its subject. Madeleine, a young French girl from the village of Cagnes-sur-Mer, was one of Renoir's favorite models during the later years of his career, appearing in Les Baigneuses (1918-1919) — the painting Renoir felt was his magnum opus.

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 when 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, the 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 on composition, lines and descriptive details, Renoir distinguished himself among his contemporaries. His intuitive use of color and expansive brushstroke, along with acute attention to his subject, have placed him among the finest painters in history.

Other Renoir compositions of Madeleine Bruno can be found in the permanent collections of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and the Musée de Grenoble in Grenoble, France.

Painted 1917

Inscribed “Renoir / no. 1117 / Madeleine (buste de femme avec fleurs dans les cheveux) / 1917” (en verso)

Canvas: 13 5/8" high x 11 5/8" wide
Frame: 21 7/8" high x 19 1/2" wide x 3 5/8" deep

Provenance:
Private collection, New Orleans
M.S. Rau, New Orleans