Previously Unknown Painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir To Be Offered

Previously unknown painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir to be offered on October 25th, 2014, at Stair Galleries.

This fine example of Renoir’s landscape painting has been in a private collection since the 1950’s when it was purchased in Europe by the owner’s mother and her first husband, Austrian film-director and screenwriter Gustav Ucicky. Ucicky was one of many illegitimate children fathered by artist Gustav Klimt. Ucicky’s mother, Maria Ucicky, was from Prague and modeled for Klimt in Vienna.

This painting was recently reviewed by the Renoir Committee at the Wildenstein Institute in Paris, and it will be included in their forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of Renoir’s paintings. The Renoir Committee has identified this painting as part of a sketch for the larger La Maison de la Poste.

Renoir celebrated beauty in his works, focusing often on feminine sensuality and people in intimate and candid compositions. As a central figure in the development of Impressionism, Renoir rendered his figures with a free brushstroke, creating a softly luminous surface. Renoir and Claude Monet painted side-by-side en plein air, examining the diffusion of light on objects and their shadows at different times of the day. Through the suggestion of details in a soft, painterly style, Renoir approached landscape painting with the same impressionistic style as he rendered figures.

Esquisse de la Maison de la Poste is a fine example of the artist’s ability to compose a multi-layered surface with very few brushstrokes, creating a vibrant and colorful composition that engages the eye.

We are very pleased to be offering this painting in our October 25-26th Fine Auction, Lot 51, with an estimate of $80,000 – $100,000.  Preview begins Friday, October 17th.
To arrange a viewing prior to our exhibition, please contact Lisa Thomas at 518-751-1000.