Retrato de Jean Renoir (Portrait de Jean Renoir) - Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Retrato de Jean Renoir (Portrait de Jean Renoir) - Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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OST - 32x24 - 1899

This delicate portrait depicts Jean Renoir, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s second son, at around five years of age. Destined to become one of the twentieth century’s major film-makers, Jean was among his father’s favourite models from early childhood. Throughout his career, portraiture held an essential place in Renoir’s art, and the depiction of those closest to him offered an especially fertile field of exploration. His children, whom he painted and drew on numerous occasions, gave him the opportunity to capture, with infinite tenderness, the spontaneity, freshness and innocence of childhood.

At this time, Renoir was particularly fond of his young sons’ long hair, their abundant curls becoming a pictorial motif in their own right. Jean’s hair remained long until he was seven: the artist deliberately postponed his first haircut, so delighted was he by the effects of light and colour it offered him. Jean Renoir would later recall the memory with humour in his memoirs: ‘He did not want me to have my hair cut when I was a little boy. [...] he liked to paint it’.

In the present composition, the child’s long auburn locks, set off by a delicate ribbon, form the work’s true focus of light. The warm tones of his hair enter into dialogue with the rosy flesh tones of his face and the delicate shades of his blouse, creating a harmony of blues and whites. With free, supple and vibrant brushwork, Renoir makes light emerge from colour itself, lending the portrait remarkable tenderness and presence. Beyond its profoundly intimate character, the work attests to Renoir’s virtuosity as a portraitist and his ability to transform a familiar subject into a meditation on light, material and colour. Its provenance adds a particularly touching dimension to its history: the work was presented and dedicated to Georges Durand-Ruel, the third and youngest son of the celebrated art dealer, establishing a personal connection between the painter and the family of the man who played an important role in the recognition of his work. Texto da Christie's.

Nota do blog: Data 2026 / Crédito para Christie's.