Contact gallery for price		Pierre-Auguste Renoir French, 1841-1919 Coco au Ruban Rose Oil on canvas 12 x 10 inches (31 x 26 cm) 17 3/4 x 19 1/2 inches (45 x 50 cm) framed Signed upper right: Renoir and dated to 1905 Provenance: Ambroise Vollard, Paris Galerie Tanner, Zurich Private Collection, Switzerland (Sold: Sotheby’s, London, December 4, 1990, Lot 4) Sam Porter Fine Arts, Great Neck, New York Acquired from the above, October 1996 Literature: Ambroise Vollard, Tableaux, Pastels et Dessins de Pierre- Auguste Renoir, Paris, 1918, vol. I, no. 237, illustrated. This painting will be included in the forthcoming Renoir catalogue critique being prepared by the Wildenstein Institute and established from the archive funds of Francois Daulte, Durand-Ruel, Venturi, Vollard and Wildenstein Pierre-Auguste Renoir was sixty years old when his third son, Claude, was born on August 4, 1901.  To the elderly artist the birth of Claude, called Coco by his parents, was an affirmation of life and the child become one of his most prolific inspirations. Renoir’s portraits of Coco document the growth of the boy from shortly after his birth through early adulthood and are a testament to the bond between the artists and his son.  This particular portrait is of historic and aesthetic significance because it is the only known one with the child's eyes gaze directly at the viewer, completely captivating the admirer. Renoir's early portraits of Coco show him gazing out at various directions, but not directly at the viewer with such loving intensity as in this unique masterpiece.  In the present work, Claude is depicted wearing a wide-collared yellow and rose shirt with jaunty bows adorning his neck and hair.  His eyes are warm, fluid, liquid and deeply colored.  There is radiance of a beloved child staring directly at you, captured forever. When Claude was a baby, it was not uncommon to dress boys and girls in a similar fashion.  Renoir may have taken liberties and poetic license in accentuating the feminine in his portraits of the very young Coco.  He wanted to preserve the angelic voice of his essence in his portraits.  Renoir’s penchant for dressing his sons in feminine attire and with long, flowing blonde hair was a display of his affection for the genuine innocence in a young child. The work is carefully executed with precise strokes of richly hued pigment and subtle washes of color.  Many paintings of Coco by Renoir began with incomprehensible little touches of paint on white background without even a suggestion of form. At times the paint, diluted with linseed oil and turpentine, was so liquid that it ran down the canvas. Renoir called this "juice."  In order to paint the eyes staring directly at the viewer in our portrait, the "juice" was created to enliven the gaze; thus Renoir could, with myriad brushstrokes, establish the tonality of his son's immaculate features, especially the penetrating eyes. Nowhere better than in pictures of his family and intimates do we see the radiant grace and freedom, the freshness and warm luster of Renoir’s matured style.  His devotion to his favorite son is evident in the purity and almost magical appeal of this extraordinary portrait.  Dabbed with long, flickering brushstrokes on a very light scumble, a thin coat of opaque paint to give a softer or duller effect, this portrait, becomes vibrant and alive with delicate transparency.  It was not unusual for Renoir to switch from one technique to another in the same painting.  He used light scumbles as he often did in the 1870’s and also vigorous brushstrokes coupled with gliding, thin, flat patches of color merging one into the other as he did in the early 1900’s.  These techniques are especially applied to bring focus and life to one of the most intimate and revealing parts of the portrait, the blue eyes. Renoir also created sculptures of Coco as well.  On one of many visits, Amboise Vollard encouraged Renoir to try doing soft wax sculpture.  He made two small pieces: a medallion profile of Coco, which was later copied in white marble in the mantel of the dining room fireplace at Cagnes, and a bust of Coco.  Both were later cast in bronze. Claude Renoir married Paulette Dupre in 1923 and they had one son, Paul, born in 1924.  From 1933 through 1939, Claude was involved in film production until he served in the Second World War garnering many decorations of distinction including the Croix de Guerre.  After the war, he returned to film work, and then moved into television where he directed several dramatic works.  He retired in 1950 and then turned to making ceramics with his son Paul.  Claude Renoir died at Antibes, France on October 19, 1969 and is buried in Essoyes near his parents and two older brothers.