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Pierre-Auguste Renoir
French, 1841–1919
Woman Reading
c. 1895
Renoir often made use of traditional themes in his work. Here, he shows a young woman reading by a window, seemingly unaware of being observed. Sunlight creates sharp white accents on the curtain, the page, and the woman's clothing. The chemise that slips off her shoulder calls attention to her exposed body and underscores the intimacy of the setting.
Image Caption
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Woman Reading, c. 1895, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.908
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
16 3/8 x 12 7/8 in. (41.6 x 32.7 cm)
Frame: 23 3/8 x 19 7/8 x 2 3/4 in. (59.4 x 50.5 x 7 cm)
Object Number
1955.908
Acquisition
Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status
Off View
Select Bibliography
Durand-Ruel. A Selection from the Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley. Exhibition catalogue. Paris: Durand-Ruel, 1905. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Ludig, Sandra G. Between the Lines: Ladies and Letters at the Clark. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1982. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. The Mainchi Newspapers.. Renoir in Japan. Tobu Museum, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum; Musée Kasama-Nichido, July 22-Nov. 30, 1993.. 1993.. Kern, Steven, et al. A Passion for Renoir: Sterling and Francine Clark Collect, 19161951. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1996 Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012.
Provenance
The artist, sold to Durand-Ruel, 3 Aug. 1900; [Durand-Ruel, Paris, from 1900]; Paul Durand-Ruel, Paris (by 1901–d. 1922); Durand-Ruel family, Paris (1922–39, sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, 6 July 1939); [Durand-Ruel, New York, sold to Clark, 6 July 1939];¹ Robert Sterling Clark (1939–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.
1. Information from Durand-Ruel archives. See correspondence of 24 Apr. 2001 in the Clark’s curatorial file. According to the Durand-Ruel records, the painting was consigned from the Durand-Ruel family private collection to the Durand-Ruel Gallery, New York, on 21 Nov. 1938. The gallery did not purchase the picture until 6 July 1939. The invoice for this picture, however, is dated 26 June 1939. See the Clark’s curatorial file.