Renoir, Claude Renoir, Tourné à Gauche (Claude Renoir, Turning to the Left), c. 1904

Artist: Renoir (1841 - 1919)
Title:Claude Renoir, Tourné à Gauche (Claude Renoir, Turning to the Left), c. 1904
Medium:Original Lithograph on Japon Paper
Image Size:5 in x 4 5/8 in (12.8 cm x 11.8 cm)
Sheet Size:13 1/8 in x 9 7/8 in (33.4 cm x 25 cm)
Framed Size:29 in x 25 1/8 in (73.7 cm x 63.8 cm)
Edition:From the second state of the edition of only 50 on Japon paper with Renoir's signature (aside from the edition of 950 on vellum paper).
Signature:Signed by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Limoges, 1841 - Cagnes-sur-Mer, 1919) in the stone in the lower right margin.
Condition:This work is in pristine condition; a bold impression with wide margins.
ID #w-3390

Historical Description

Turning frequently to his family for inspiration, this intimate image is a notional rendering of the artist's youngest son, Claude, who frequently served as one of Renoir’s favored subjects. Executed in a gestural fashion, the artist manipulates light and form to capture the jubilant contours of the child's face.

Claude Renoir, son of the artist, was born in 1901 when Pierre-Auguste Renoir was already 60 years of age. Michel Ferloni and Dominique Spies state, "it must have been a great joy for the nearly helpless Renoir to follow the smile or the games of this marvelous little being with chubby cheeks, still free as the air and bouncing with life, who was his son" (Ferloni, 56). This sense of fascination with his son is evident in the artist's delicate rendering of the petit nose and delicate lips. The child appears to be studying something just beyond the picture plane with an intent glare of childish curiosity.

Created in 1904, this work is from second state of the edition of only 50 on Japon paper with Renoir's signature (aside from the edition of 950 on vellum paper); the blacks are blacker, the shades are subtler, etc. The work was published in L'album des douze lithographies originales de Pierre Auguste Renoir by Vollard in 1919. There was also another edition of 950 printed on vellum paper.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:
This work is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. Delteil, Loys with Alan Hyman, ed. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Ethcings & Lithographs: Catalogue Raisonné, San Francisco, 1999. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 40.

2. Stella, Dr. Joseph G. The Graphic Work of Renoir, Catalogue Raisonné, London. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 40. Also listed on the title page folio as Etchings, no. 40.

3. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:
This work is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complimentary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.