Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Renoir has used the hands of his youngest son Claude, or 'Coco', for the present painting. His other son, and elder brother of Claude, Jean Renoir, remembered the emphasis his father placed on hands. He wrote: 'He talked constantly of hands. He always judged people he saw for the first time by their hands. "Did you see that fellow and the way he tore open his packet of cigarettes? He's a scoundrel. And that woman: did you notice the way she brushed back her hair with her forefinger? A good girl." One usually looks people in the eyes to see if they are sincere. Renoir always looked at their hands.' (see: Jean Renoir, Renoir, My Father, London, 1962, p. 17).

Please note that the present lot will be included in the Critical Catalogue of Pierre August Renoir's paintings being prepared by the Wildenstein Institute.