Woman with a Parasol and Small Child on a Sunlit Hillside
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
(French, 1841–1919)
about 1874–76
Medium/TechniqueOil on canvas
Dimensions47 x 56.2 cm (18 1/2 x 22 1/8 in.)
Credit LineBequest of John T. Spaulding
Accession number48.593
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPaintings
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Renoir’s model for this painting was likely Camille Monet, wife of his fellow Impressionist Claude Monet; Renoir painted her on several occasions between 1874 and 1876. Here she sits on a hillside, her white dress dappled with pink and blue in the shade. Her grace and composure stand in marked contrast to the toddling child who wanders off into the background at right, oblivious of the painter’s presence.
InscriptionsLower left: RenoirProvenanceAugust 25, 1891, sold by the artist to Durand-Ruel, Paris (stock no. 1541) [see note 1]; transferred from Durand-Ruel, Paris, to Durand-Ruel, New York (stock no. 1845-4935); January 14, 1917, sold by Durand-Ruel, New York, to Josef Stransky (b. 1872 - d. 1936), New York; sold by Stransky to Duncan Phillips (b. 1886 - d. 1966), Washington, DC; April 30, 1926, sold by Phillips to Durand-Ruel, New York (stock no. 8239); April 27, 1926 or 1927, sold by Durand-Ruel to John Taylor Spaulding (b. 1870 - d. 1948), Boston [see note 2]; 1948, bequest of John Taylor Spaulding to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 3, 1948)NOTES:
[1] The provenance given here was provided by Durand-Ruel, Paris in a letter to the MFA (January 4, 1962; in MFA curatorial file); also see François Daulte, "Auguste Renoir: Catalogue Raisonné de l'Oeuvre Peint, I. Figures, 1860 - 1890" (Lausanne, 1971), cat. no. 260.
[2] In their letter to the MFA (as above, n. 1) Durand-Ruel stated that they purchased the painting from Mr. Phillips on April 30, 1926 and sold it to John Taylor Spaulding in April 1926. Mr. Spaulding's receipt is dated April 27, 1926. Daulte (as above, n. 1) gives Spaulding' s purchase date as April 27, 1927.
