Cat. 11 Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881

Cat. 11  Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881

Cat. 11

Two Sisters (On the Terrace)1
1881
Oil on canvas; 100.4 × 80.9 cm (39 1/2 × 31 7/8 in.)
Signed: Renoir. 81. (lower right, in blue paint)
The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection, 1933.455

A Jewel in the Collection of Paul Durand-Ruel

With its representation of rowing and sailboats moored at the quay and its elevated point of view over a verdant landscape, Two Sisters (On the Terrace) is a colorist’s homage to the pastoral experience of Chatou. The painting brings to a close Renoir’s work at the Restaurant Fournaise painting views of leisure boating along the Seine, a period that began in 1875, the year he painted Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (The Rower’s Lunch) (cat. 2). Why the artist abandoned the popular establishment and its convivial owners remains a mystery, as Renoir loved it there and recommended it to others. Writing in the late summer of 1880 to the collector Georges de Bellio, Renoir explained that he was too busy with Luncheon of the Boating Party (fig. 11.1 [Daulte 379; Dauberville 224]) to come to Paris, but he urged de Bellio to visit him at Chatou: “You would do well to choose a day and come to lunch. You will not be sorry you made the trip; this is the most attractive spot in the countryside around Paris.”2 Two Sisters (On the Terrace) is the Primavera (Allegory of Spring) to Luncheon of the Boating Party’s summer bacchanal.3 The leaves are still unfurling on the trees, and bright spring blossoms abound. In a letter to Théodore Duret from Chatou on Easter Monday, April 18, 1881, Renoir again expressed reluctance to leave for a planned trip to England with the art critic because of his work on Two Sisters (On the Terrace): “I am struggling with trees in bloom, with women and children, and wish to see nothing beyond that. . . . The weather is fine and I have my models; that’s my only excuse.”4

Soon after the painting was finished, the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel purchased it from Renoir as Femme sur une terrasse au bord de la Seine for 1,500 francs, the sum Renoir reportedly had received three years earlier for the substantially larger portrait Madame Georges Charpentier and Her Children (1878; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York [Daulte 266; Dauberville 239]).5 Given the difficulties Renoir expressed in executing the painting and the high price he received, one could speculate that the work was commissioned by the dealer. The role of Two Sisters (On the Terrace) as a promotional vehicle for Impressionism began almost immediately, when a rare color reproduction was published in late 1881 in L’art de la mode.6 In March 1882 the painting was included in the seventh Impressionist exhibition with the new title Les deux soeurs (see fig. 11.2). Durand-Ruel contributed twenty-five Renoir works from his stock after the artist refused to participate because he perceived Paul Gauguin and Camille Pissarro to be overly political.7 The following year the painting reappeared under a third title—Femme sur une terrasse (Chatou)—in Renoir’s retrospective exhibition organized by Durand-Ruel and held on the boulevard de la Madeleine.8 Although Two Sisters (On the Terrace) was an eminently salable work, Durand-Ruel did not part with it for nearly four and a half decades.9 The painting was reproduced as an etching in a full-page illustration in Georges Lecomte’s 1892 account of Durand-Ruel’s private collection, one of a select number of Impressionist paintings the dealer kept for himself (see fig. 11.3). Not surprisingly, Lecomte presented Durand-Ruel as a visionary who at an early date recognized the innovative accomplishment of the Impressionists even while the French State remained undecided. For Lecomte the works in Durand-Ruel’s private collection offered a complete history of Impressionism and represented the best of each artist’s talent.10 In his discussion of Two Sisters (On the Terrace), Lecomte praised the color in the landscape elements and, in describing the figure of the young woman, commented on Renoir’s evocation of the Old Masters: “The insinuating and crafty grace of her sly face is accentuated by the malicious obliquity and alarming smile in her eyes. She has the look of a modern Mona Lisa who knows all about love and seduction and is shamelessly flirting with you.”11 While the Durand-Ruel family owned the painting, it appeared before the public in at least seventeen exhibitions or gallery displays and was continually reproduced (see Exhibition History and Selected References). It was only after Paul Durand-Ruel’s death in June 1922 that the painting was sold to Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn of Chicago (see Provenance).

The Models for Two Sisters (On the Terrace)

Despite the title Les deux soeurs, assigned to the painting by Durand-Ruel for the 1882 Impressionist exhibition, the little girl was not the sister of the seated figure, who was eighteen-year-old Eugénie Marie Darlaud, known as Jeanne Darlaud, an aspiring actress (see fig. 11.4).12 For his painting Luncheon of the Boating Party, Renoir depicted known habitués of the Restaurant Fournaise as well as an elite group of cultural aficionados, including the actress Jeanne Samary, who had recently been appointed sociétaire of the Comédie Française. In Two Sisters (On the Terrace) he again drew from the Parisian theater world. Here Darlaud played the role of a canotière (rower), a free spirit who divided her time between Parisian dance halls and a life of leisure along the Seine. Such a character was later immortalized in Guy de Maupassant’s novel Yvette (1884), but even in 1881 the canotière had been inspiring writers and poets for some time.13

Paul Durand-Ruel first made the association between this painting and the Darlaud family in 1923, when he mistakenly recalled that the young woman pictured was Jeanne Darlaud’s younger sister Anne (known by her stage name, Jane Demarsy), who also modeled for Renoir. Durand-Ruel’s confusion may have arisen because Anne posed for Renoir in an unknown setting wearing the same boating costume: a blue dress with a cape or hood attached, and a hat of the same design with beige finish around the brim, but blue rather than red (fig. 11.5 [Daulte 424; Dauberville 1060]).14 It was the art historian François Daulte who eventually identified the model as Jeanne.15 The collector and art dealer René Gimpel described the Darlaud sisters as girls of humble origins who worked for Renoir as a necessary source of income.16 As Colin Bailey discovered, they were the daughters of a bookbinder and a brocade weaver, and their grandfather was a cabinetmaker from Limoges who probably knew Renoir’s father, Léonard, a tailor from that city.17 Jeanne Darlaud entered the Conservatoire in August 1882 and soon afterward began a busy career on the French stage, from which she retired in 1899. After her death in 1914, her cash assets totaled more than 574,000 francs, the result of gifts from a wealthy and generous seigneur, apparently the chocolate manufacturer Gaston Menier, who was listed as the trustee of her hôtel particulier on the avenue de Friedland.18

The little girl in the painting has never been identified, and the artist left no clues to the relationship she might share with the young woman, leaving viewers to draw their own conclusions. Difference in age is not enough to explain the lack of engagement, the look of boredom that Lecomte took for crafty grace or the apparent absence of emotion in the child’s expression. Certainly in Madame George Charpentier and Her Children (fig. 11.6), Renoir proved himself capable of conveying warmth and love between family members. That he seems to have made no attempt to do so in Two Sisters (On the Terrace) may have to do with the fact that it is a genre painting, while the other is a portrait commissioned by an important patron. In its treatment of the subject of an adult and a child, Two Sisters (On the Terrace) is conspicuously different from a painting of the same year by Berthe Morisot, Eugène Manet and His Daughter at Bougival (fig. 11.7), which also appeared in the seventh Impressionist exhibition.19

An Innovative Impressionist Painting

If Two Sisters (On the Terrace) presents an idyllic scene, timeless in its serenity, its composition is quite sophisticated, with surprising contrasts in the figure-ground relationship. For the landscape setting Renoir used loose, expressive brushwork, whereas he rendered the figures with a more controlled brush and precise modeling of solid colors. He painted directly on the canvas, using red lake to outline at least some of the forms, as can be seen around the seated figure’s right eye (fig. 11.8). There are no known preparatory sketches, though the artist had dealt with the theme of a single female figure on a terrace at least twice in the previous two years, in Alphonsine Fournaise in 1879 (fig. 11.9 [Daulte 301; Dauberville 321]) and Young Girl Seated in about 1880 (fig. 11.10 [Daulte 356; Dauberville 323]).20 In the latter painting, the young woman sits in a chair with a fabric back and arms, of comparable design to that in Two Sisters (On the Terrace). Changes to the background to the right of Jeanne Darlaud’s head and above the planter indicate that Renoir wished to subdue objects in the background landscape to give it a more nascent, diaphanous look in keeping with the season. For example, the shoreline path may originally have included two figures above the railing to the left of Jeanne’s head, visible in the infrared image (fig. 11.11). Renoir painted over these in favor of a single rowing figure in a skiff that blends into the line of the river.

In the background, thin layers of pink and blue tones were laid in first for the water, followed by short strokes of denser blues and whites to convey a rich and varied river surface with light playing over the ripples and waves. The foliage and tree branches were painted with the lightest of touches in greens, pale grays, and mauves. So transparent are the paint layers that they seem like a veil through which can be glimpsed skiffs, moored sailboats, and the opposite bank. There is plenty of white or light-colored paint in the background that increases the impression of sparsity in the vegetation, especially along the left side of the canvas. Infrared imaging reveals that Renoir originally painted a second set of curving decorations between the rails of the balcony and halfway down their length. Traces of this decoration are still visible beneath the upper paint layers to the left of the seated figure’s elbow (see fig. 11.12). Their removal allowed the blossoming trees behind to have a fuller and wilder presence.

Compared to the gossamer landscape, the two female figures are finely modeled with generous amounts of paint. This distinctly different treatment of background and figure was a change from Renoir’s work of the 1870s, where he made use of a “pantheistic” brushstroke that did not differentiate between the viewing planes. Alfred Sisley (1876; cat. 4), exhibited at the third Impressionist exhibition of April 1877, is a good example of the stippled brushwork of these 1870s portraits. In contrast, the flesh tones in Two Sisters (On the Terrace) were painted with barely visible strokes that carefully integrated the red and white tones. The deep blue of the young woman’s boating costume appears sculptural against the willowy trees and spring blooms that surround her. The blending of red lake over the blue creates darker shadows in the dress at the elbow, while the highlights of reflected sunlight on her chest result from thin films of yellow. Despite the firmer appearance of the figures, they are no less luminous. There is plenty of lead white in the little girl’s dress, and the flesh tones have a porcelain-like clarity, touched with red to give color to the cheeks. In depicting the young woman wearing a bright red hat with her dark blue dress, Renoir achieved a striking juxtaposition of primary colors. An audacious rendering, but one that may have been inspired by the bold fashions of boaters on the Seine. In his novel Yvette, Guy de Maupassant related that the canotières at this time wore “a dress of blue flannel or red flannel, a parasol, also red or blue, open over their head, brilliant under the hot sun. . . .”21

The basket of wool appears to have been included in order to give the foreground more substance and color. Such an accessory was unlikely to have been found on the premises of the Maison Fournaise, which rented boats and ran a restaurant, unless it was brought by one of the boarding guests. The wool seems of little interest to either of the figures, who interact with it no more than they interact with each other. Colin Bailey has pointed out that criticism of Renoir frequently incorporated references to wool; he surmises that “Renoir incorporates this critical trope in order to deflate it.”22

Two Sisters (On the Terrace) is a genre painting that portrays what Renoir valued most about everyday life along the Seine: the opportunity for enjoyment of nature and good company away from the urban distractions of Paris.
John Collins

Technical Report

Technical Summary

The work was executed on a standard-size, commercially prepared [glossary:canvas] with a manufacturer’s stamp on the verso, now only visible in transmitted light due to a subsequent [glossary:lining] (see Conservation History). The canvas is of a fine [glossary:weave] and has a smooth, white [glossary:ground] that moderately fills the weave. While there is no apparent [glossary:underdrawing], examination in transmitted light indicates that Renoir may have outlined some of the major forms at some point early in the painting process. The nature and sequence of these lines is ambiguous, as some appear to have been worked into the upper paint layers while still wet. [glossary:Transmitted-light] and [glossary:X-ray] images also illustrate that changes were made to the figures. The woman’s head and hat were altered and her right arm brought closer to her body. The artist heavily painted out his original placement of the woman’s facial features before settling on the final arrangement, but the faint outline of an eye is visible above and to the right of her left eye, indicating more substantial changes. These images also show something of Renoir’s working method, especially with regard to the child. Here he wiped away flesh-colored paint from the child’s forehead and cheeks and altered the color and texture in these areas with subsequent, much thinner paint layers. The artist used scraping to remove previous compositional choices along the right side of the woman’s collar and in large areas of the background. This reworking is apperent only in the x-ray; there is a no textural evidence of it on the surface. He reworked much of the background, exchanging fuller, more substantial foliage for the finer, more ephemeral leaves and vines now visible.

Multilayer Interactive Image Viewer

The multilayer interactive image viewer is designed to facilitate the viewer’s exploration and comparison of the technical images (fig. 11.13).23

Signature

Signed and dated: Renoir. 81. (lower right, in blue paint) (fig. 11.14, fig. 11.15).24

Structure and Technique

Support

Canvas

Flax (commonly known as linen).25

Standard format

The original dimensions of the canvas were approximately 100 × 81 cm, according to 1972 pretreatment measurements. This is consistent with measurements from the apparent original [glossary:foldover] and corresponds to a no. 40 portrait ([glossary:figure]) standard-size (100 × 81 cm) canvas.26

Weave

[glossary:Plain weave]. Average [glossary:thread count] (standard deviation): 30.9V (0.8) × 25.9H (1.1) threads/cm. The vertical threads were determined to correspond to the [glossary:warp] and the horizontal threads to the [glossary:weft].27

Canvas characteristics

There is mild [glossary:cusping] corresponding to the placement of the original tacks. The thread density along the warp (vertical) threads increases toward the right side of the canvas (fig. 11.16). The warp threads near the right edge of the canvas have [glossary:primary cusping], which indicates that this canvas was near the edge of the preprimed roll during commercial preparation (fig. 11.17).28 Any evidence of an unprimed edge or selvedge was removed from this side before or just after stretching.

Stretching

Current stretching: When the painting was relined and restretched in 1972, the original dimensions were increased slightly on all sides (see Conservation History).

Original stretching: Based on secondary cusping visible in the X-ray, the original tacks were placed approximately 5–8 cm apart.

Stretcher/strainer

Current stretcher: Five-member [glossary:ICA spring stretcher] with a metal horizontal [glossary:crossbar]. Depth: 2.8 cm.

Previous stretcher: Because the painting was already lined when the 1972 treatment was undertaken, it is unclear whether the stretcher that was removed at that time was original to the painting; however, that stretcher was a six-member, keyable, mortise-and-tenon stretcher with vertical and horizontal crossbars. Depth: approximately 1.6 cm.29

Manufacturer’s/supplier’s marks

Stamp
Location: verso of original canvas (covered by lining)
Method: ovular stamp
Content: [COULEURS FINES & TOILES À TABLEAUX] / P: APRIN / PARIS / [48 RUE DE DOUAI 48] (fig. 11.18, fig. 11.19)30

Preparatory Layers

Sizing

Not determined (probably glue).31

Ground application/texture

The painting features a two-layer commercial ground that extends to the edges of the [glossary:tacking margins]. The layer lower is approximately 3–45 µm thick, while the upper layer is approximately 15–75 µm thick. Overall the preparation is smooth and moderately fills the weave. The ground is left visible in some areas of the painting, especially on the upper left.

Color

The upper layer of the ground appears white, with no colored particles visible under stereomicroscopic or cross-sectional examination (fig. 11.20). The lower, chalk-based layer appears creamy white in cross sections.

Materials/composition

The commercial preparation is a two-layer priming beginning with a calcium-carbonate (chalk) layer (fig. 11.21); this layer also contains traces of complex silicates (clays).32 The upper layer is predominantly lead white with a small amount of calcium-based white and traces of barium sulfate, silica, alumina, and complex iron-containing silicates (fig. 11.22).33 The [glossary:binder] of the upper layer is estimated to be [glossary:oil].34

Compositional Planning/Underdrawing/Painted Sketch

Extent/character

No underdrawing was observed with [glossary:infrared reflectography] or under microscopic examination. In transmitted light and transmitted infrared, outlines can be seen around the major forms, but it is unclear at which stage in the painting process these lines were made (fig. 11.18). Close examination of the eyes under the microscope indicates that Renoir may also have used red lake to mark forms in the early painting stages (fig. 11.23).

Paint Layer

Application/technique and artist’s revisions

The X-ray, infrared, and [glossary:transmitted-light] images indicate that Renoir made a number of changes to the composition. They also reveal something of his technique and application of paint. In some areas, evidence of scraping back and painting out earlier forms hints at compositional changes; however, the exact nature of these changes remains hidden. In certain places, the artist seems to have wiped or scraped paint away, then further painted out evidence of earlier choices to give himself a cleaner slate, as in the background to the right of the woman’s head. In many areas of the background, especially immediately around the woman’s head, large strokes resembling heavy tree branches or shrubs, and an unidentified round form on the right, appear to have been painted out in favor of finer, more atmospheric foliage. Immediately behind the figures, heavier greenery, like that still visible on the left above the basket, is still faintly discernible behind the vines and finer strokes of vegetation. On the left, above the railing, Renoir seems to have initially articulated a shoreline path with two walking figures, seen in infrared examination (fig. 11.24), which were subsequently painted out and replaced with a skiff and rower (fig. 11.25). Most of the background itself appears to be underpainted in modulated blues and pinks, perhaps related to the depiction of the water, while the upper layers—including the finer branches, leaves, and vines—were brought in around the figures. For the most part, the upper two thirds of the background were executed with thinned paint and a dry brush, creating an almost feathered effect. The artist also made small changes to compositional elements immediately surrounding the figures. The planter on the right initially had three dark bands across it, resembling a wine cask, and the angle of the chair back immediately to the right of the woman’s shoulder was subtly changed. In the lower left corner, the X-ray shows heavy diagonal strokes where Renoir painted out his initial choice before executing the last skeins of yarn [glossary:wet-in-wet].

The artist made changes to the woman’s face and hat; however, the nature of these changes is not entirely clear. It appears that the profile of the hat was softened and rounded in the later painting stages. The flower embellishments were established early and later partially obscured by the addition of the golden-colored brim (fig. 11.26). The woman’s posture appears slightly altered at the shoulders, her right arm is closer to her body, and her waist is slimmer (fig. 11.27). Heavy diagonal strokes across and around the woman’s head probably indicate previous choices painted out by Renoir (fig. 11.28). Amid these strokes, above and slightly to the right of the eyes, the outline of an earlier left eye is faintly visible, indicating perhaps more radical changes to this figure’s face. The visible composition and the thickness of these diagonal strokes camouflage the nature of these changes. Elsewhere the artist appears to have scraped away paint to change the composition, as seen in the woman’s collar on the right.

Renoir also made changes to the child, slightly altering the silhouette of her hat, moving her hands and possibly her arms, and perhaps thinning her face. The X-ray indicates that the child’s hands may have been slightly closer to the woman, or farther from the viewer in space, while the infrared image suggests that the fingers were initially longer and more relaxed. The X-ray and transmitted-light images also reveal that the artist used wiping to clear away some of the paint on the child’s face, namely on her cheek and parts of her hair (fig. 11.29). The flesh tones appear to have been thinly painted before the heavier tones were applied, and wiping removed the heavy, opaque flesh tones in favor of a more translucent layer that takes advantage of the reflective qualities of the ground. After wiping the cheeks to reveal the thin underpaint, Renoir applied a thin, translucent pink tone over the area to balance the transition (fig. 11.30). There is a notable difference in effect between the child’s cheeks and the woman’s face. The child’s hat was altered in color, decoration, and shape. The artist appears to have begun painting the hat with a paler wet-in-wet mixture of blue and white still visible on either side of the floral decoration. One flower on the left and perhaps two or three on the right appear in the X-ray, while the rest were added later. The crown of the hat was also shortened and is now almost entirely hidden by flowers. The dark-blue, green, and red lake shadows around the underside of the hat were also added in a later painting stage.

Painting tools

Round and flat brushes, mostly fine, with some strokes up to 1 cm wide; cloth for wiping; [glossary:palette knife] for scraping.

Palette

Analysis indicates the presence of the following [glossary:pigments]:35 lead white, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, emerald green, viridian, vermilion, red lake, iron oxide yellow and brown, chrome yellow, and zinc yellow.36

The observation of a characteristic orange [glossary:fluorescence] under [glossary:UV] light indicates that Renoir used large amounts of red lake in the figures’ flesh tones, the woman’s hat, various flowers, the yarn on the lower left, and select portions of the background (fig. 11.31).37

Binding media

Oil (estimated).38

Surface Finish

Varnish layer/media

The current [glossary:synthetic varnish] dates from the 1972 treatment, which removed a previous [glossary:natural-resin varnish]. It is unclear whether this natural-resin varnish was original to the painting or applied during a previous treatment.

Conservation History

The painting was first examined in 1956 and found to have flaking and [glossary:cleavage] along the woman’s collar.39 A loan exam from the following year lists the painting as aqueously lined and sagging, with buckling of the canvas and small losses throughout.40 At this time the painting was also noted as being varnished, having a substantial layer of grime, and being loose within its frame. Preloan treatment was proposed and included relaxing the buckles with local application of wax, [glossary:keying out] the stretcher, and removing the grime layer. It is unclear whether this treatment was ever undertaken.

The painting was treated in 1972 in preparation for exhibition. Conditions noted at the time included a brittle lining, flattened [glossary:impasto] (presumably from the previous lining), and a discolored natural-resin varnish.41 During this treatment, grime, varnish, and the lining were removed, and the work was faced with mulberry-fiber paper and starch paste in preparation for lining. The old six-member stretcher was discarded, and the work was wax-resin lined and then tacked to a four-member ICA spring stretcher of slightly larger dimensions (100 × 81 cm). The work was inpainted and given a synthetic varnish (an isolating layer of polyvinyl acetate [PVA] AYAA, followed by methacrylate resin L-46, inpainting, and a final coat of AYAA).

Condition Summary

The work is in good condition, planar with a stable wax-resin lining and few losses. Curiously, during the 1972 treatment, a vertical strip of unidentified white material, containing large amounts of zinc, was applied either to the lining canvas or to the verso of the painting before the lining was applied (fig. 11.32).42 Either before or during the lining process, this material dried and cracked, and the original canvas settled into these cracks during the lining process so that deformations are visible on the surface in raking light (fig. 11.33). As a result of this lining, the original canvas is saturated with wax resin and very dark, and the ground layer also appears darker. [glossary:Retouching] during the 1972 treatment was mostly limited to abrasions on both figures’ faces and on the extended perimeter. Along the bottom edge, the perimeter was extended so that some of the tack holes are now on the front, and previous tearing around these old tack holes was filled and retouched, as in the bottom left corner. There is fine cracking throughout both hats and the woman’s blue dress. Zinc yellow found throughout has darkened slightly, giving it a more earthy hue (fig. 11.34).43 The work has a synthetic varnish that imparts an even gloss and saturation.
Kelly Keegan

Frame

Current frame (installed 1997/98): The frame is not original to the painting. It is a French, mid-seventeenth-century, Louis XIII, carved gilt torus frame with laurel-and-berry garlands, flower centers, and corner acanthus leaves. The frame has water gilding over red-brown bole on gesso and retains its original gilding and aged glue [glossary:sizing]. The ornament and sight molding are selectively burnished, and the cove frieze and fillet are burnished. The carved oak molding is mitered and joined with angled, dovetailed splines. The molding, from the perimeter to the interior, is cove; torus face with laurel-and-berry garlands, flower centers, corner acanthus leaves, and strapped corners; cove front frieze bordered with fillets; and ogee with leaf-tip sight molding (fig. 11.35).44

Previous frame (installed mid 1960s, removed 1997/98): The painting was previously housed in an American (APF Master Frame Makers, New York), mid-twentieth-century, Louis XVI reproduction, architrave frame of basswood, mitered and nailed, with water gilding over red bole on sprayed gesso. The molding featured ribbon-and-stave ornament, a lozenge-and-bead sight molding, and an independent gilt liner (fig. 11.36).45

Previous frame (installed prior to 1933, removed mid-1960s): The painting was previously housed in a French (Paris), late-nineteenth-century, Durand-Ruel, Régence Revival, ogee frame with cast foliate center and corner cartouches, and an independent liner.46 The frame had water and oil gilding over bole on cast plaster and gesso. Two different shades of gold were used: one alloy on the outer frame and another on the liner. The bole color was also varied: red bole was used on the perimeter molding, the cast foliate ornament on the ogee and sight moldings, the scotia sides, and the liner; and red-orange bole was used on the sanded frieze and bordering fillets. The ornament and sight molding were selectively burnished, and the liner was burnished. The frame had an overall bronze tone, with casein or gouache raw umber and gray washes. The frame had a glued pine substrate with a cast plaster face. The molding, from perimeter to interior, was fillet with cast, stylized, running, undulating bands with rhomboid center punches; scotia side; ogee face with a cast crosshatched bed and center and corner foliate and floral cartouches with cabochon centers on a double-lined diamond bed with punched centers; fillet; sanded front frieze; fillet; ogee with stylized leaf-tip-and-shell sight molding; and an independent fillet liner with a cove sight edge (fig. 11.37).
Kirk Vuillemot

Provenance

Sold by the artist to Durand-Ruel, Paris, July 7, 1881, for 1,500 francs.47

Sent by Durand-Ruel, Paris, to Durand-Ruel, New York, 1922.48

Sold by Durand-Ruel, New York, to Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn, Chicago, Feb. 4, 1925, for $100,000.49

Bequeathed by Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn (died 1932) to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.

Exhibition History

Paris, 251, rue Saint-Honoré, Salons du Panorama de Reischoffen, 7me exposition des artistes independants [seventh Impressionist exhibition], Mar. 1–31, 1882, cat. 138, as Les deux soeurs.50

Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition des oeuvres de P.-A. Renoir, Apr. 1–25, 1883, cat. 30, as Femme sur une terrasse (Chatou).51

New York, American Art Galleries, Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionists of Paris, Apr. 10–28, 1886, cat. 181; New York, National Academy of Design, May 25–June 30, 1886, as On the Terrace.52

Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition A. Renoir, May 1892, cat. 92, as La terrasse. Appartient à M. J. D.53

Berlin, Expo, 1895.54

Saint Petersburg, Internationale de la revue “Le monde artiste à St. Petersbourg,” 1899.55

Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition de tableaux de Monet, Pissarro, Renoir & Sisley, Apr. 1899, cat. 81, as Sur la terrasse. 1881.56

Brussels, Libre Esthétique, Exposition des peintres impressionnistes, Feb. 25–Mar. 29, 1904, cat. 130, as Sur la terrasse. Appartient à M. Durand-Ruel.57

Paris, Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, Salon d’automne, Oct. 15–Nov. 15, 1904, cat. 12, as Sur la terrasse.58

London, Grafton Galleries, Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Exhibited by Messrs. Durand-Ruel & Sons, Jan.–Feb. 1905, cat. 239, as On the Terrace. 1881.59

Berlin, Paul Cassirer, Französische Meister, Ferner werke von Max Liebermann, Walter Leistikow, Ulrich Hübner, Constantin Meunier, Mar. 16–mid-June 1906, cat. 30, as Die Terrasse.60

London, Palace of Fine Arts, Franco-British Exhibition, May 14–Oct. 31, 1908, cat. 397, as La terrasse. Appartient à M. Durand-Ruel.61

Munich, Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser, Ausstellung Auguste Renoir, mid-Jan.–mid-Feb. 1912, cat. 9, as Sur la terrasse. 1881.62

Berlin, Paul Cassirer, VI. Ausstellung, Feb.–Mar. 1912, cat. 9.63

Paris, Manzi, Joyant & Cie, Exposition d’art moderne, June 5–July 6, 1912, cat. 180, as Sur la terrasse.64

Kunsthaus Zurich, Französische Kunst des XIX. u. XX. Jahrhunderts, Oct. 5–Nov. 14, 1917, cat. 169, as Sur la terrasse. Coll. D.-R.65

Paris, Durand-Ruel, Tableaux, pastels-dessins par Renoir (1841–1919), Nov. 29–Dec. 18, 1920, cat. 52.66

Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, Apr. 6–Oct. 9, 1932, cat. 33 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, May 23–Nov. 1, 1933, cat. 348 (fig. 11.38).67

Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress” Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture for 1934, June 1–Oct. 31, 1934, cat. 237.68

Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, Nov. 1934, cat. 15.69

New York, Durand-Ruel, Views of the Seine by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Jan. 11–30, 1937, cat. 6 (ill.).70

New Haven, Conn., Yale University Gallery of Fine Arts, French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Feb. 18–Mar. 4, 1937, cat. 1.

New York, Duveen Galleries, Renoir: Centennial Loan Exhibition, 1841–1941; For the Benefit of the Free French Relief Committee, Nov. 8–Dec. 6, 1941, cat. 35 (ill.).

New York, Wildenstein, Renoir: A Loan Exhibition; For the Benefit of the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York City, Inc., Apr. 8–May 10, 1958, no. 31 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Renoir, Feb. 3–Apr. 1, 1973, cat. 34 (ill.).

Tokyo, Seibu Museum of Art, Shikago bijutsukan insho-ha ten [The Impressionist tradition: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago], Oct. 18–Dec. 17, 1985, cat. 35 (ill.); Fukuoka Art Museum, Jan. 5–Feb. 2, 1986; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Mar. 4–Apr. 13, 1986.

Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection, Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” Sept. 21, 1996–Feb. 23, 1997, cat. 58 (ill.).71

Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, June 27–Sept. 14, 1997, cat. 40 (ill.); Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 17, 1997–Jan. 4, 1998; Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, Feb. 8–Apr. 26, 1998. (fig. 11.39)

Saint Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum, Auguste Renoir, “The Two Sisters (On the Terrace)”: From the Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, July 3–Sept. 16, 2001, no cat.72

Wuppertal, Germany, Von der Heydt-Museum, Renoir und die Landschaft des Impressionismus, Oct. 28, 2007–Jan. 27, 2008, no cat. no. (ill.).

Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, June 29–Nov. 2, 2008, cat. 28 (ill.).

Selected References

Ernest Hoschedé, L’art de la mode (1881), (ill.).73

Catalogue de la 7me exposition des artistes independants, exh. cat. (Morris Pére et Fils, 1882), cat. 138.74

La Fare, “Exposition, des impressionnistes,” Le gaulois, Mar. 2, 1882, p. 2.

Henry Havard, “Exposition des artistes indépendants,” Le siécle, Mar. 2, 1882, p. 2.75

A. Hustin, “L’exposition des peintres indépendants,” L’estafette, Mar. 3, 1882, p. 3. Reprinted in Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886; Documentation, vol. 1, Reviews (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), p. 395.

Draner, “Une visite aux impressionnistes,” Le charivari, Mar. 9, 1882, p. 3. Reprinted in Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886; Documentation, vol. 1, Reviews (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), pp. 386, 417.

A. Hustin, “L’exposition des impressionnistes,” Moniteur des arts (Mar. 10, 1882), p. 1. Reprinted in Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886; Documentation, vol. 1, Reviews (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), p. 396.

Durand-Ruel, Catalogue de l’exposition des oeuvres de P.-A. Renoir, exh. cat. (Pillet & Dumoulin, 1883), p. 12, cat. 30.76

Ph. B. [Philippe Burty], “Les peintures de M. P. Renoir,” La republique française (Apr. 15, 1883), p. 3.

American Art Association, Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionists of Paris, exh. cat. (J. J. Little/American Art Galleries, 1886), p. 31, cat. 181.77

American Art Association, Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionists of Paris, exh. cat. (National Academy of Design, 1886), p. 45, cat. 181.78

Georges Lecomte, L’art impressionniste d’après la collection privée de M. Durand-Ruel (Chamerot & Renouard, 1892), pp. 137 (ill.), 204, 207.

Durand-Ruel, Paris, Exposition A. Renoir, exh. cat. (Imp. de l’Art/E. Ménard, 1892), pp. 33; 34; 46, cat. 92.79

Richard Muther, The History of Modern Painting, vol. 2 (Henry, 1896), p. 748 (ill.).80

Durand-Ruel, Paris, Exposition de tableaux de Monet, Pissarro, Renoir & Sisley, exh. cat. (Imp. de l’Art, 1899), p. 11, cat. 81.81

Camille Mauclair, “L’oeuvre d’Auguste Renoir,” L’art décoratif 41, pt. 1 (Feb. 1902), pp. 173 (ill.), 179.

Camille Mauclair, “L’oeuvre d’Auguste Renoir,” L’art décoratif 42, pt. 2 (Mar. 1902), p. 224.

Camille Mauclair, The Great French Painters and the Evolution of French Painting from 1830 to the Present Day, trans. P. G. Konody (E. P. Dutton, [1903]), pp. 112, 114 (ill.).

Wynford Dewhurst, Impressionist Painting: Its Genesis and Development (Newnes, 1904), p. 52.

Maurice Hamel, “Le salon d’automne,” Les arts 35 (Nov. 1904), p. 35 (ill.).

Camille Mauclair, L’impressionnisme: Son histoire, son esthétique, ses maîtres, 2nd ed. (Librairie de l’Art Ancien et Moderne, 1904) pp. 112, 137–138. Translated by P. G. Konody as The French Impressionists (1860–1900) (Duckworth/E. P. Dutton, [1903]), pp. 120, 124.

Octave Maus, Exposition des peintres impressionnistes, exh. cat. (Libre Esthétique, 1904), p. 43, cat. 130.82

Léon Plée, “Le salon d’automne,” Les annales politiques & littéraires 43, 1113 (Oct. 23, 1904), pp. 257; 261; (ill.).

Société du Salon d’Automne, Catalogue de peinture, dessin, sculpture, gravure, architecture et arts décoratifs, exh. cat. (Hérissey, 1904), p. 114, no. 12.83

Grafton Galleries, Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Exhibited by Messrs. Durand-Ruel & Sons, exh. cat. (Strangeways and Sons, 1905), p. 22, cat. 239.84

Grafton Galleries, A Selection from the Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley (Durand-Ruel and Sons, 1905), p. 35, cat. 239 (ill.).

Henry Morison, “Auguste Renoir, Impressionist,” Brush and Pencil 17, 5 (May 1906), pp. 201, 203.

British Art Committee, Souvenir of the Fine Art Section, Franco-British Exhibition, 1908, Complied by Sir Isidore Spielmann (Bemrose & Sons, 1908), pp. 101; 309.

Franco-British Exhibition, Catalogue of the Fine Art Section, 4th ed., exh. cat. (Bemrose and Sons, 1908), p. 181, no. 397.85

Vittorio Pica, Gl’impressionisti francesi (Istituto Italiano d’Arti Grafiche, 1908), pp. 84 (ill.), 98.

Arsène Alexandre, “Exposition d’art moderne á hotel de la revue ‘Les arts,’” Les arts 128 (Aug. 1912), pp. 5, no. 7 (ill.); 12.

Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser, Ausstellung Auguste Renoir, exh. cat. (R. Piper, [1912]), cat. 9.86

Manzi, Joyant & Cie, Exposition d’art moderne, exh. cat. (Manzi, Joyant, 1912), cat. 180.

Bernheim-Jeune, Renoir, with a preface by Octave Mirbeau (Bernheim-Jeune, 1913), p. 19.

Zürcher Kunsthaus, Französische Kunst des XIX. u. XX. Jahrhunderts, exh. cat. (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 1917), p. 24, cat. 169.87

Ambroise Vollard, Tableaux, pastels & dessins de Pierre-Auguste Renoir, vol. 1 (A. Vollard, 1918), pp. 84, no. 334 (ill.); 177.

Georges Lecomte, “L’oeuvre de Renoir,” L’art et les artistes 4, 14 (Jan. 1920), pp. 146, 147 (ill.).

Willy Burger, “August [sic] Renoir,” Die Kunst für Alle 35 (Feb. 9/10, 1920), p. 169 (ill.).

Georges Rivière, Renoir et ses amis (H. Floury, 1921), opp. p. 134 (ill.).

Durand-Ruel, Paris, Tableaux pastels-dessins par Renoir, exh. cat. (Imp. de l’Art, 1920), cat. 52.88

Paul Jamot, “Renoir (1841–1919),” Gazette des beaux-arts 8, 5, pt. 2 (Dec. 1923), pp. 323, 325 (ill.).

François Fosca, Renoir (F. Rieder, 1923), pp. 20; 62; pl. 25. Translated by Hubert Wellington as Renoir, Masters of Modern Art (Dodd, Mead, 1924), pp. 5; 21–22; pl. 18.

Ambroise Vollard, Renoir: An Intimate Record, trans. Harold L Van Doren and Randolph T. Weaver (Knopf, 1925), p. 240.

Royal Cortissoz, Seven Paintings by Renoir (Durand-Ruel, c. 1923), pp. 7, 8, 9, 22–23 (ill.).

Royal Cortissoz, Personalities in Art (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925), pp. 279, 281, 282.

Royal Cortissoz, “Auguste Renoir and the Cult for Beauty,” International Studio 90, 375 (Aug. 1928), p. 20.

Julius Meier-Graefe, Renoir (Klinkhardt & Biermann, 1929), p. 142, no. 119 (ill.).

Carroll Carstairs, “Renoir,” Apollo 10, 55 (July 1929), p. 36 (ill.).

Royal Cortissoz, The Painter’s Craft (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1930), p. 233.

Reginald Howard Wilenski, French Painting (Hale, Cushman & Flint, 1931), p. 262.

“On the Terrace: From a Painting by August [sic] Renoir,” Christian Science Monitor 24, 201 (July 22, 1932), p. 7 (ill).

Daniel Catton Rich, “The Bequest of Mrs. L. L. Coburn,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 26, 6 (Nov. 1932), pp. 67 (ill.), 68.

Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1932), pp. 6; 23, no. 33; 51, no. 33 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of “A Century of Progress”: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1933), pp. 49–50, cat. 348.

Art Institute of Chicago, Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago, Report for the Year Nineteen Hundred Thirty-Two 27, 3, pt. 2 (Mar. 1933), p. 22 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, “The Century of Progress Exhibition of the Fine Arts,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 27, 4 (Apr.–May 1933), p. 67.

Art Institute of Chicago, “The Rearrangement of the Paintings Galleries,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 27, 7 (Dec. 1933), p. 115.

Daniel Catton Rich, “Art in Chicago,” Vogue 82, 2 (July 15, 1933), p. 38 (ill.).

Daniel Catton Rich, “The Exhibition of French Art: ‘Art Institute’ of Chicago,” Formes 33 (1933), (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Catalogue of “A Century of Progress”: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, 1934, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1934), p. 40, cat. 237.

Clarence Joseph Bulliet, Art Masterpieces in a Century of Progress Fine Arts Exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, vol. 2 (Chicago Daily News/North-Mariano Press, 1933), no. 116 (ill.).

Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, exh. cat. (Toledo Museum of Art, 1934), cat. 15.

Albert C. Barnes and Violette de Mazia, The Art of Renoir (Minton, Balch, 1935), pp. 77; 78; 79; 83; 84; 86; 270, no. 119 (ill.); 405–06, no. 119; 453.

Claude Roger-Marx, Renoir, Anciens et Modernes (H. Floury, 1937), p. 85 (ill.).

Durand-Ruel, New York, Views of the Seine by Monet, Pissaro, Renoir, Sisley, exh. cat. (Durand-Ruel, 1937), cat. 6 (ill.).

Yale University Gallery of Fine Arts, An Exhibition of French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, exh. cat. (Yale University Press, 1937), cat. 1.

Henry McBride, “The Renoirs of America: An Appreciation of the Metropolitan Museum’s Exhibition,” Art News 35, 31 (May 1, 1937), pp. 60, 73 (ill.).

Théodore Duret, Renoir, trans. Madeleine Boyd (Crown, 1937), pl. 3.

Lionello Venturi, Les archives de l’impressionnisme: Lettres de Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley et autres; Mémoires de Paul Durand-Ruel; Documents, vol. 2 (Durand-Ruel, 1939), p. 268.

Reginald Howard Wilenski, Modern French Painters (Reynal & Hitchcook, [1940]), opp. p. 39, pl. 12; p. 8.89

Charles Terrasse, Cinquante portraits de Renoir (Librairie Floury, 1941), p. 6; pl. 22.

Duveen Galleries, Renoir: Centennial Loan Exhibition, 1841–1941; For the Benefit of the Free French Relief Committee (Vilmorin/Bradford, 1941), pp. 57, cat. 35 (ill.); 139, cat. 35.

Art Institute of Chicago, “Department of Reproductions,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 38, 2 (Feb. 1944), p. 28.90

Art Institute of Chicago, “Department of Reproductions,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 38, 5 (Sept.–Oct. 1944), p. 85.

Art Institute of Chicago, “Department of Reproductions,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 38, 7 (Dec. 1944), p. 116 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1945), p. 36.91

“Chicago Perfects Its Renoir Group,” Art News 44, 16, pt. 1 (Dec. 1–14, 1945), p. 18.

Hans Huth, “Impressionism Comes to America,” Gazette des beaux-arts 29 (1946), p. 239, n. 22.

Louis Zara, ed., Masterpieces, Home Collection of Great Art 1 (Ziff-Davis, 1950), cover (ill.), pp. 4, 117.

Art Institute of Chicago, Masterpieces in the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1952), (ill.).

Charles Fabens Kelley, “Chicago: Record Years,” Art News 51, 4 (June–Aug. 1952), p. 54 (ill.).

Dorothy Bridaham, Renoir in the Art Institute of Chicago (Conzett & Huber, 1954), front cover; pl. 5.

M. K. R., “An Exhibition for Paris,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 49, 2 (Apr. 1955), p. 29.

Art Institute of Chicago, “Notes,” Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 50, 3 (Sept. 15, 1956), p. 59.

Wildenstein, Renoir: A Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York City, Inc. (Gallery Press, 1958), p. 45, no. 31 (ill.).

François Fosca, Renoir: L’homme et son oeuvre (A. Somogy, 1961), pp. 85, 117 (ill.), 281. Translated by Mary I. Martin as Renoir, His Life and Work (Prentice-Hall, 1962), pp. 85, 113 (ill.), 269.

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Art Institute of Chicago, 1961), pp. 283 (ill.), 396–97.92

René Gimpel, Journal d’un collectionneur, marchand de tableaux (Calmann-Lévy, 1963), pp. 181, 225. Translated by John Rosenberg as Diary of an Art Dealer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1966), pp. 157, 212.

Walter Pach, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Library of Great Painters (Abrams, [1964]), pp. 70–71 (ill.).93

Frederick A. Sweet, “Great Chicago Collectors,” Apollo 84 (Sept. 1966), p. 203.

Charles C. Cunningham, Instituto de arte de Chicago, El mundo de los museos 2 (Editorial Codex, 1967), pp. 12, ill. 33 and ill. 34; 58, fig. 3; 59 (detail).

André Parinaud, Art Institute of Chicago, Grands musées 2 (Hachette-Filipacchi, [1968]), pp. 36, ill. 3; 37 (detail); 69, ill. 33 and ill. 34.

Elda Fezzi, Renoir (Sadea/Sansoni, 1968), pp. 21; 36; fig. 31. Translated into French by Simone de Vergennes as Renoir, Les petits classiques de l’art (Flammarion, 1969), p. 34; pl. 31.

Charles C. Cunningham and Satoshi Takahashi, Shikago bijutsukan [Art Institute of Chicago], Museums of the World 32 (Kodansha, 1970), pp. 48, pl. 34; 49, pl. 35 (detail); 159.

John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago (Abrams, 1970), p. 87 (ill.).94

François Daulte, Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint, vol. 1, Figures, 1860–1890 (Durand-Ruel, 1971), pp. 268–69, cat. 378 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, “Summer Gallery Talks,” Calendar of the Art Institute of Chicago 65, 3 (May–Aug. 1971), p. 18.

Art Institute of Chicago, “Exhibition Schedule,” Calendar of the Art Institute of Chicago 66, 2 (Mar. 1972), p. 7 (ill.).

Elda Fezzi, L’opera completa di Renoir: Nel periodo impressionista, 1869–1883, Classici dell’arte 59 (Rizzoli, 1972), p. 109, cat. 471 (ill.).95

Art Institute of Chicago, “Lecturer’s Choice,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 67, 4 (Jul.–Aug. 1973), p. 11.

Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Renoir, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago, 1973), pp. 26; 96–97, cat. 34 (ill.); 210–11; 212; 213 (ill.); 214.

John Rewald, “Jours sombres de l’impressionnisme, Paul Durand-Ruel et l’expostition des impessionnistes, à Londres, en 1905,” L’oeil 223 (Feb. 1974), pp. 15 (ill.), 18.

Art Institute of Chicago, 100 Masterpieces (Art Institute of Chicago, 1978), pp. 102–03, pl. 58.

Patricia Erens, Masterpieces: Famous Chicagoans and Their Paintings (Chicago Review, 1979), p. 57.

J. Patrice Marandel, The Art Institute of Chicago: Favorite Impressionist Paintings (Crown, 1979), front cover (detail), p. 106.

Sophie Monneret, L’impressionnisme et son époque: Dictionnaire international illustré, vol. 2 (Denoël, 1979), pp. 172, 175.

Joel Isaacson, The Crisis of Impressionism, 1878–1882, exh. cat. (University of Michigan Museum of Art, 1980), p. 32.

Diane Kelder, The Great Book of French Impressionism (Abbeville, 1980), pp. 260 (ill.), 261 (detail), 438.96

Diane Kelder, The Great Book of French Impressionism, Tiny Folios (Abbeville, 1980), back cover (ill.); p. 161, pl. 20.

Art Institute of Chicago, “Special Programs,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 75, 1 (Jan.–Mar. 1981), p. 19.

Gerd Betz, Auguste Renoir: Leben und Werk (Belser, 1982), pp. 44, 51 (ill.).

Barbara Ehrlich White, Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters (Abrams, 1984), pp. 104–05 (ill.), 106.

Art Institute of Chicago, Seibu Museum of Art, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, and Fukuoka Art Museum, eds. Shikago bijutsukan insho-ha ten [The Impressionist tradition: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago], trans. Akihiko Inoue, Hideo Namba, Heisaku Harada, and Yoko Maeda, exh. cat. (Nippon Television Network, 1985), front cover (ill.); pp. 18 (ill.); 81, cat. 35 (ill.); 146; 147, cat. 35 (ill.).

Joel Isaacson, “The Painters Called Impressionists,” in The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, ed. Charles S. Moffett, with Ruth Berson, Barbara Lee Williams, and Fronia E. Wissman, exh. cat. (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1986), pp. 387, 394, 395.

Richard R. Brettell, French Impressionists (Art Institute of Chicago/Abrams, 1987), pp. 55, 70 (ill.), 71, 119.

Ministry of Culture; State Hermitage Museum; Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and Art Institute of Chicago, Ot Delakrua do Matissa: Shedevry frantsuzskoi zhivopisi XIX–nachala XX veka, iz Muzeia Metropoliten v N’iu-Iorke i Khudozhestvennogo Instituta v Chikago [From Delacroix to Matisse: Masterpieces of French painting of the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Art Institute of Chicago], trans. from English by Iu. A. Kleiner and A. A. Zhukov, exh. cat. (Avrora, 1988), p. 64.

Sophie Monneret, Renoir, Profils de l’art (Chêne, 1989), p. 153, fig. 15.

Rachel Barnes, ed., Renoir by Renoir, Artists by Themselves (Webb & Bower, 1990), pp. 40–41 (ill.). Translated into Japanese by Reiko Kokatsu as Runowaru (Renoir), Nikkei Pocket Gallery (Nihon Keizai, 1991), pp. 46–47 (ill), 87.

David Bomford, Jo Kirby, John Leighton, and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Impressionism exh. cat. (National Gallery, London/Yale University Press, 1990), pp. 190; 191, pl. 200.

Lesley Stevenson, Renoir (Bison Group, 1991), pp. 106–07 (ill.), 109.

Martha Kapos, ed., The Impressionists: A Retrospective (Hugh Lauter Levin/Macmillan, 1991), p. 234, pl. 74.

Anne Distel, Renoir: “Il faut embellir” (Gallimard/Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1993), pp. 77 (ill. and details), 169. Translated as Renoir: A Sensuous Vision (Thames & Hudson, 1995), pp. 77 (ill. and details), 169.

Art Institute of Chicago, Treasures of 19th- and 20th-Century Painting: The Art Institute of Chicago, with an introduction by James N. Wood (Art Institute of Chicago/Abbeville, 1993), p. 87 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide, selected by James N. Wood and Teri J. Edelstein, entries written and compiled by Sally Ruth May (Art Institute of Chicago, 1993), p. 157 (ill.).97

Gerhard Gruitrooy, Renoir: A Master of Impressionism (Todtri, 1994), pp. 49, 70 (ill).

Christie’s, New York, Impressionist and Modern Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture (Part I), sales cat. (Christie’s, New York, May 11, 1995), p. 38, fig. 1.

Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886; Documentation, vol. 1, Reviews (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), pp. 377, 386, 395, 396, 400, 417.

Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886; Documentation, vol. 2, Exhibited Works (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), pp. 210, 229 (ill.).

Francesca Castellani, Pierre-Auguste Renoir: La vita e l’opera (Mondadori, 1996), pp. 138, 149 (ill.).

Eliza E. Rathbone, “Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party: Tradition and the New,” in Eliza E. Rathbone, Katherine Rothkopf, Richard R. Brettell, and Charles S. Moffett, Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” exh. cat. (Phillips Collection/Counterpoint, 1996), p. 49.

Eliza E. Rathbone, Katherine Rothkopf, Richard R. Brettell, and Charles S. Moffett, Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” exh. cat. (Phillips Collection/Counterpoint, 1996), pp. 216, pl. 58; 259.

Katherine Rothkopf, “From Argenteuil to Bougival: Life and Leisure on the Seine, 1868–1882,” in Eliza E. Rathbone, Katherine Rothkopf, Richard R. Brettell, and Charles S. Moffett, Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” exh. cat. (Phillips Collection/Counterpoint, 1996), p. 64.

Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), pp. 175; 186–189, cat. 40 (ill.); 301, n. 14; 308–10, cat. 40. Translated by Danielle Chaput and Julie Desgagné, with support from Nada Kerpan for the texts by Linda Nochlin, as Les portraits de Renoir: Impressions d’une époque, exh. cat. (Gallimard/Musée des Beaux-Arts du Canada, 1997), pp. 175; 186–89, cat. 40 (ill.); 301, n. 14; 308–10, cat. 40.

Douglas W. Druick, Renoir, Artists in Focus (Art Institute of Chicago/Abrams, 1997), front cover (ill.); pp. 6; 43 (detail); 49; 50–51; 54–55; 72; 80; 93, pl. 12; 110.

Sophie Monneret, Sur le pas de impressionnistes (Éd. de la Martinière, 1997), p. 96.

Charles Moffett, “Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Young Women at the Water’s Edge,” in The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, Impressionists and Modern Masters, ed. Libby Lumpkin, exh. cat. (Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, Mirage Resorts, 1998), pp. 47, 50 (ill.).98

Kimbell Art Museum, “Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age,” Calendar (Aug. 1997–Jan. 1998), p. 14 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Master Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood (Art Institute of Chicago/Hudson Hills, 1999), p. 59 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Shikago bijutsukan [The Art Institute of Chicago], Museums of the World 22 (Kodansha, 2000), p. 20 (ill.).

Barbara Dayer Gallati, William Merritt Chase: Modern American Space, 1886–1890, exh. cat. (Brooklyn Museum of Art/Abrams, 2000), pp. 42; 43, fig. 11.

Belinda Thomson, Impressionism: Origins, Practice, Reception (Thames & Hudson, 2000), p. 206, ill. 207; 207; 268.

Paul Joannides, Renoir: Sa vie, son oeuvre (Soline, 2000), pp. 1 (detail), 90–91 (ill.).

Art Institute of Chicago, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood (Art Institute of Chicago/Hudson Hills, 2000), front cover (ill.); pp. 9, 10, 71 (ill.), 76.

Art Institute of Chicago, Treasures from the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James N. Wood, commentaries by Debra N. Mancoff (Art Institute of Chicago/Hudson Hills, 2000), back cover (ill.); pp. 183, 206 (ill.).

Gilles Néret, Renoir: Painter of Happiness, 1841–1919, trans. Josephine Bacon (Taschen, 2001), pp. 2 (ill.), 440.

Simona Barrolena, Impressionismo (Mondadori Electa, 2002), p. 168 (ill.).

Sculpture Foundation, Solid Impressions: J. Seward Johnson, Jr. (Sculpture Foundation, 2002), pp. 60 (ill.), 70.

Philippe Cros, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Terrail, 2003), pp. 84, 88–89 (ill.).

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Beyond the Frame: Impressionism Revisited; The Sculptures of J. Seward Johnson, Jr., with an essay by Petra Ten-Doesschate Chu (Bulfinch, 2003), p. 121 (ill.).

Norio Shimada, Inshoha bijutsukan [History of impressionism] (Shogakukan, 2004), p. 436 (ill.).

Aviva Burnstock, Klaas Jan van den Berg, and John House, “Painting Techniques of Pierre-Auguste Renoir: 1868–1919,” Art Matters: Netherlandish Technical Studies in Art 3 (2005), p. 52.

Kyoko Kagawa, Runowaru [Pierre-Auguste Renoir], Seiyo kaiga no kyosho [Great Masters of Western Art] 4 (Shogakukan, 2006), p. 58 (ill.).

Richard R. Brettell and Joachim Pissarro, Manet to Matisse: Impressionist Masters from the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection, exh. cat. (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art/University of Washington Press, 2007), pp. 97; 98, fig. 33.

Colin B. Bailey, “Rowers at Chatou, 1880–1,” in Renoir Landscapes, 1865–1883, ed. Colin B. Bailey and Christopher Riopelle, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London, 2007), pp. 212, fig. 102; 214. Translated by Marie-Françoise Dispa, Lise-Éliane Pomier, and Laura Meijer as Colin B. Bailey, “Les canotiers à Chatou, 1880–1881,” in Les paysages de Renoir 1865–1883, ed. Colin B. Bailey and Christopher Riopelle), exh. cat. (National Gallery, London/5 Continents, 2007), pp. 212, fig. 102; 214.

Colin B. Bailey, “‘The Greatest Luminosity, Colour and Harmony’: Renoir’s Landscapes, 1862–1883,” in Renoir Landscapes, 1865–1883, ed. Colin B. Bailey and Christopher Riopelle, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London, 2007), pp. 65, 70. Translated as Colin B. Bailey, “‘Un maximum de luminosité; de coloration, et d’harmonie’: Les paysages de Renoir, 1862–1883,” in Les paysages de Renoir 1865–1883, ed. Colin B. Bailey and Christopher Riopelle, trans. Marie-Françoise Dispa, Lise-Éliane Pomier, and Laura Meijer, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London/5 Continents, 2007), pp. 65, 70.

Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, with the collaboration of Camille Frémontier-Murphy, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vol. 1, 1858–1881 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2007), pp. 299–300, cat. 254 (ill.).

Peter Kropmanns, “Renoir und der Impressionismus,” in Auguste Renoir und die Landschaft des Impressionismus, ed. Gerhard Finckh, exh. cat. (Von der Heydt-Museum, 2007), pp. 74–75 (ill.).

Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Kimbell Art Museum, 2008), pp. 10 (detail); 24 (ill.); 74–75, cat. 28 (ill.). Simultaneously published as Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Age of Impressionism at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2008), pp. 10 (detail); 24 (ill.); 74–75, cat. 28 (ill.).99

Art Institute of Chicago, The Essential Guide (Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), p. 218 (ill.).

Anne Distel, Renoir (Citadelles & Mazenod, 2009), pp. 194; 195, ill. 181; 239.

Art Institute of Chicago, Master Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James Cuno (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2009), p. 59 (ill.).

Adrien Goetz, Comment Regarder . . . Renoir (Hazan, 2009), p. 135 (ill.).

Marie-Christine Decrooq, “Monet und Durand-Ruel: Die Finanzkrise und die 7. Impressionisten-Ausstellung im Licht ihrer Korrespondenz (Januar bis März 1882) aus dem Archiv Cornebois,” in Claude Monet, ed. Gerhard Finckh, exh. cat. (von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal, 2009), p. 59 (ill.).

Sylvie Patry, “Renoir, Revolutionary and Classical,” in Sounjou Seo, Renoir: Promise of Happiness, exh. cat. (Seoul Museum of Art, 2009), p. 30, fig. 7.

Caroline Durand-Ruel Godfroy, “Paul Durand-Ruel and Renoir: 47 Years of Friendship,” in Sounjou Seo, Renoir: Promise of Happiness, exh. cat. (Seoul Museum of Art, 2009), pp. 158; 161; 166, n. 13; 167, n. 47; 275; 276; 279, n. 13 and n. 47.

Greg M. Thomas, Impressionist Children: Childhood, Family, and Modern Identity in French Art (Yale University Press, 2010), pp. 50; 51, fig. 56.

Caroline Homes, Impressionists in Their Garden (Antique Collectors’ Club, 2012), pp. 132–33 (ill.).

Debra N. Mancoff, Fashion in Impressionist Paris (Merrell, 2012), pp. 138–39 (ill.), 149.

Bernhard Echte and Walter Feilchenfeldt, eds., with assistance by Petra Cordioli, Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer: Die Ausstellungen 1905–1908 (Nimbus. Kunst und Bücher, 2013), pp. 208 (ill.), 213, 803.

Other Documentation

Documentation from the Durand-Ruel Archives

Inventory number
Stock Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1451, Livre de stock Paris 1880–82100

Inventory number
Stock Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1214, Livre de stock Paris 1891101

Inventory number
Deposit Durand-Ruel, New York, 8124, Livre de dépôt Paris 1902–04 and Livre de stock New York 1904–24102

Photograph number
Photo Durand-Ruel Paris 120103

Other Documents

Label (fig. 11.40)104

Label (fig. 11.41)105

Label (fig. 11.42)106

Labels and Inscriptions

Pre-1980

Stamp
Location: verso of original canvas (covered by lining)
Method: ovular stamp
Content: [COULEURS FINES & TOILES À TABLEAUX] / P: APRIN / PARIS / [48 RUE DE DOUAI 48] (fig. 11.43)107

Label
Location: previous backing board (discarded); preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten script on gray label
Content: ancien titre / No / femme et fillette au bord / de la mer (fig. 11.44)

Label
Location: previous [glossary:backing board] (discarded); preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten script on brown paper label
Content: Renoir No. 8124 / Sur la terrasse / 1881 (fig. 11.45)

Label
Location: previous backing board (discarded); preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten script on gray-brown paper label
Content: Re[n]oir N^o 1214 / Sur la terrace (1881) / [. . .]239[. . .] (fig. 11.46)

Label
Location: previous backing board (discarded); preserved in conservation file
Method: handwritten script on red-and-white label
Content: C11651 / Art Institute / of Chicago (fig. 11.47)

Post-1980

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: The Phillips Collection / America’s first museum of modern art / 1600 21st Street NW Washington, D.C. 20009-1090 / Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration / of Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party” / September 21, 1996–February 9, 1997 / Artist Renoir / Title Two Sisters (On the Terrace) / Date 1881 / Medium oil on canvas / Dimensions 39 1/2 × 31 7/8 in. (100.3 × 81 cm) / Lender Art Institute of Chicago / Reg # 1996.53.4 Plate # 58 (fig. 11.48)

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed and typed label
Content: THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / artist Pierre Auguste Renoir / title On The Terrace, 1881 / medium oil on canvas / credit / acc. # 1933.455 / LZ-341-001 1M 1/90 (Rev. 1/90) (fig. 11.49)

Label
Location: backing board
Method: printed label
Content: Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age / Cat.No.: 40 / Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir / Title: Two Sisters (On the Terrace) / Owner: Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 11.50)

Number
Location: stretcher
Method: handwritten script (pen and marker)
Content: 1933.455 (fig. 11.51)

Label
Location: stretcher
Method: printed and typed label with blue stamp
Content: [stamp] Inventory—1980–1981 / FROM / THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO / CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60603, U. S. A. / To / Renoir, Pierre Auguste / On the Terrace 1881 / 1933.455 (fig. 11.52)

Stamp
Location: stretcher
Method: blue stamp
Content: Inventory—1980–1981 (fig. 11.53)

Examination and Analysis Techniques

X-radiography

Westinghouse X-ray unit, scanned on Epson Expressions 10000XL flatbed scanner. Scans were digitally composited by Robert G. Erdmann, University of Arizona.

Infrared Reflectography

Inframetrics Infracam with 1.5–1.73 µm filter; Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite 1000B/2 mm filter (1.0–1.1 µm); Goodrich/Sensors Unlimited SU640SDV-1.7RT with H filter (1.1–1.4 µm) and J filter (1.5–1.7 µm).

Transmitted Infrared

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite 1000B/2 mm filter (1.0–1.1 µm).

Visible Light

Natural-light, raking-light, and transmitted-light overalls and macrophotography: Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter.

Ultraviolet

Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter and Kodak Wratten 2E filter.

High-Resolution Visible Light (and Ultraviolet)

Sinar P3 camera with Sinarback eVolution 75 H (Kodak Wratten 2E filter, PECA 918 UV/IR interference cut filter).

Microscopy and Photomicrographs

Sample and [glossary:cross-sectional analysis] were performed using a Zeiss Axioplan 2 research microscope equipped with reflected light/[glossary:UV fluorescence] and a Zeiss AxioCam MRc5 digital camera. Types of illumination used: [glossary:darkfield], brightfield, differential interference contrast ([glossary:DIC]), and UV. In situ photomicrographs were taken with a Wild Heerbrugg M7A StereoZoom microscope fitted with an Olympus DP71 microscope digital camera.

X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF)

Several spots on the painting were analyzed in situ with a Bruker/Keymaster TRACeR III-V with rhodium tube.

Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM)

Zeiss Universal research microscope.

Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM/EDX)

[glossary:Cross sections] were analyzed after carbon coating with a Hitachi S-3400N-II VPSEM with an Oxford EDS and a Hitachi solid-state [glossary:BSE] detector. Analysis was performed at the Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental (NUANCE) Center, Electron Probe Instrumentation Center (EPIC) facility.

Electron Microprobe

Applied Research Laboratories (ARL) electron microprobe analyzer. Analysis was carried out at McCrone Associates, Chicago, Illinois.

Automated Thread Counting

Thread count and weave information were determined by Thread Count Automation Project software.108

Image Registration Software

Overlay images were registered using a novel image-based algorithm developed by Damon M. Conover (GW), Dr. John K. Delaney (GW, NGA), and Murray H. Loew (GW) of the George Washington University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.109

Image Inventory

The image inventory compiles records of all known images of the artwork on file in the Conservation Department, the Imaging Department, and the Department of Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 11.54).

Two Sisters (On the Terrace) (Daulte 378) corresponds to François Daulte, Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint, vol. 1, Figures, 1860–1890 (Durand-Ruel, 1971), pp. 268–69, cat. 378 (ill.). Two Sisters (On the Terrace) (Dauberville 254) corresponds to Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, with the collaboration of Camille Frémontier-Murphy, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vol. 1, 1858–1881 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2007), pp. 299–300, cat. 254 (ill.). The Art Institute currently uses a title that is based on research conducted for Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art, The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, Jan. 17–Apr. 6, 1986, cat. 63 (ill.); Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, Apr. 19–July 6, 1986. The painting had the following titles during the lifetime of the artist:
 

July 7, 1881: Femme sur une terrasse au bord de la Seine (Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1880–82 [no. 1451]; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

Mar. 1, 1882: Les deux soeurs (Catalogue de la 7me exposition des artistes independants, exh. cat. [Morris Pére et Fils, 1882], cat. 138; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

Apr. 1, 1883: Femme sur une terrasse (Chatou) (Durand-Ruel, Catalogue de l’exposition des oeuvres de P.-A. Renoir, exh. cat. [Pillet & Dumoulin, 1883], p. 12, cat. 30; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

Apr. 10, 1886: On the Terrace (American Art Association, Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionists of Paris, exh. cat. [J. J. Little/American Art Galleries, 1886], p. 31, cat. 181; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

May 1892: La terrasse. Appartient à M. J. D. (Durand-Ruel, Paris, Exposition A. Renoir, exh. cat. [Imp. de l’Art/E. Ménard, 1892], pp. 33; 34; 46, cat. 92; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

Apr. 1899: Sur la terrasse. 1881 (Durand-Ruel, Paris, Exposition de tableaux de Monet, Pissarro, Renoir & Sisley, exh. cat. [Imp. de l’Art, 1899], p. 11, cat. 81; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

Feb. 25, 1904: Sur la terrasse. Appartient à M. Durand-Ruel (Octave Maus, Exposition des peintres impressionnistes, exh. cat. [Libre Esthétique, 1904], p. 43, cat. 130; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

Oct. 15, 1904: Sur la terrasse. (Société du Salon d’Automne, Catalogue de peinture, dessin, sculpture, gravure, architecture et arts décoratifs, exh. cat. [Hérissey, 1904], p. 114, cat. 12.)

Jan. 1905: On the Terrace. 1881 (Grafton Galleries, Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Exhibited by Messrs. Durand-Ruel & Sons, exh. cat. [Strangeways and Sons, 1905], p. 22, cat. 239; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

Mar. 16, 1906: Die Terrasse (According to Bernhard Echte and Walter Feilchenfeldt, eds., with assistance by Petra Cordioli, Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer: Die Ausstellungen 1905–1908 [Nimbus. Kunst und Bücher, 2013], pp. 208 [ill.], 213, 803, the painting was included in the exhibition Französische Meister, Ferner werke von Max Liebermann, Walter Leistikow, Ulrich Hübner, Constantin Meunier, Berlin, Paul Cassirer, Mar. 16-mid-June 1906, as cat. 30.)

May 14, 1908: La terrasse (Franco-British Exhibition, Catalogue of the Fine Art Section, 4th ed., exh. cat. [Bemrose and Sons, 1908], p. 181, no. 397; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

Mid-Jan. 1912: Sur la terrasse. 1881. (Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser, Ausstellung Auguste Renoir, exh. cat. [R. Piper, (1912)], cat. 9; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

June 5, 1912: Sur la terrasse (Manzi, Joyant & Cie, Exposition d’art moderne, exh. cat. [Manzi, Joyant, 1912], cat. 180; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

Oct. 5, 1917: Sur la terrasse (Zürcher Kunsthaus, Französische Kunst des XIX. u. XX. Jahrhunderts, exh. cat. [Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 1917], p. 24, cat. 169; as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.)

Date justification to come REMOVED FROM ENTRY (AWP per CMS)

“Vous seriez bien gentil de choisir un jour et de venir déjeuner. Vous ne regretterez pas votre voyage c’est l’endroit le plus joli des alentours de Paris.” Renoir to Georges de Bellio, [summer 1880], Chez Madame Fournaise, Île de Chatou, in Henri Saffroy, Autographes et documents historiques, sale cat. (Librairie Henri Saffroy, June 1983), sale no. 118, lot no. 1314; author’s translation. Daulte and Dauberville refer to the Renoir catalogues raisonnés: François Daulte, Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint (Durand-Ruel, 1971); Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vols. 1–5 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2007–14).

Sandro Botticelli (Florentine, 1444/5–1510). La primavera, 1477/82. Tempera on panel; 203 × 314 cm (79 15/16 × 123 5/8 in.). Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

“Je suis en lutte avec des arbres en fleurs, avec femmes et enfants, et je ne veux rien voir au delà . . . Il fait bien beau et j’ai des modèles: voilà ma seule excuse.” Renoir to Théodore Duret, Easter Monday, [April 18], 1881, [Chatou], in Michel Florisoone, “Renoir et la famille Charpentier: Lettres inédites,” L’amour de l’art 19, 1 (Feb. 1938), p. 40; author’s translation.

“Acheté par Durand-Ruel Paris (stock 1451) à l’artiste le 7 juillet 1881 pour 1500 francs, Femme sur une terrasse au bord de la Seine,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. The fee for Madame Georges Charpentier and Her Children is discussed by Colin B. Bailey in his entry on that painting in Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), p. 164. Bailey’s entry on Two Sisters (On the Terrace) further adds that Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (The Rower’s Lunch) (cat. 2) was purchased the same day for 600 francs; see Bailey, Renoir’s Portraits, p. 308, n. 8. Daulte and Dauberville refer to the Renoir catalogues raisonnés: François Daulte, Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint (Durand-Ruel, 1971); Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vols. 1–5 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2007–14).

L’art de la mode 2 (1881–82); see Juliet Bareau to the Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 14, 1990, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

See Joel Isaacson’s discussion of the seventh Impressionist exhibition, “The Painters Called Impressionists,” in The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, ed. Charles S. Moffett, with the assistance of Ruth Berson, Barbara Lee Williams, and Fronia E. Wissman, exh. cat. (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1986), pp. 373–93.

Durand-Ruel, Paris, Catalogue de l’exposition des oeuvres de P.-A. Renoir, exh. cat. (Pillet & Dumoulin, 1883), no. 30; confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. The Chicago painting was not no. 2, Les deux soeurs, lent by Charles Ephrussi, as indicated in Colin B. Bailey, “Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881,” in Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), p. 308. No. 2 in the 1883 catalogue is likely Alice and Elisabeth Cahen d’Anvers (1881; Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand [Daulte 361; Dauberville 253]). Daulte and Dauberville refer to the Renoir catalogues raisonnés: François Daulte, Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint (Durand-Ruel, 1971); Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vols. 1–5 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2007–14).

The collector and art dealer René Gimpel, in viewing Durand-Ruel’s collection in 1922, commented that Sur la terrace was among the works in their private collection that the family would not sell. René Gimpel, Journal d’un collectionneur, marchand de tableaux (Calmann-Lévy, 1963), p. 225.

“C’est au Luxembourg que devraient être exposées les oeuvres principales de ces initiateurs. Mais des banalités le décorent. Ce que l’État, dédaigneux d’art nouveau, ne sut pas faire, M. Durand-Ruel le réalisa. Pour la joie de ses yeux et le charme de son intérieur, il colligea, avec la constant passion d’un amateur éclairé, les toiles les plus caractéristiques du talent de ces peintres . . . Elle [sa galerie] nous permettra d’écrire une histoire complète de l’Impressionnisme.” Georges Lecomte, L’art impressionniste d’après la collection privée de M. Durand-Ruel (Chamerot & Renouard, 1892), p. 36.

“Son visage chafouin a une grâce mièvre et futée qu’accentuent l’obliquité malicieuse et l’affolant sourire des yeux. Elle a un regard de Joconde moderne qui sait l’amour, la séduisante effronterie d’une oeillade.” Georges Lecomte, L’art impressionniste d’après la collection privée de M. Durand-Ruel (Chamerot & Renouard, 1892), p. 207; translated in Colin B. Bailey, “Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881, ” in Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), p. 188.

For complete biographical documentation, see Colin B. Bailey, “Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881,” in Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), pp. 188 and 309, nn. 19–29.

See, for example, “La Canotière,” by Antony Valabrègue, a friend of Paul Cézanne’s, published in L’artiste, April 1870, pp. 122–24.

Daulte and Dauberville refer to the Renoir catalogues raisonnés: François Daulte, Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint (Durand-Ruel, 1971); Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vols. 1–5 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2007–14).

François Daulte, Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint, vol. 1, Figures, 1860–1890 (Durand-Ruel, 1971), p. 411, cited in Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), p. 188.

“Sur la terrasse . . . est le portrait de cette demi-mondaine: de Maray, alors une petite ouvrière qui faisait aussi poser sa jeune soeur pour manger toutes deux.” René Gimpel, Journal d’un collectionneur, marchand de tableaux (Calmann-Lévy, 1963), p. 225.

Colin B. Bailey, “Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881,” in Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), pp. 188 and 309, nn. 19, 25.

Colin B. Bailey, “Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881,” in Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), pp. 188 and 309, nn. 27, 28, citing the “succession” of Mademoiselle Darlaud, Mar. 22, 1915, Archives de l’Enregistrement, Paris.

The painting depicts the artist’s husband and daughter, Julie, playing with the child’s houses during their summer in Bougival, just downriver from Chatou. See Charles Stuckey and William P. Scott, Berthe Morisot: Impressionist (Hudson Hills Press, 1987), p. 92. Eugène Manet and His Daughter at Bougival was identified as an hors catalogue addition to the 1882 Impressionist exhibition in Charles S. Moffett et al., eds., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886, exh. cat. (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1986), p. 395, “h.c. d) Eugène et Bibi.”

Daulte and Dauberville refer to the Renoir catalogues raisonnés: François Daulte, Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint (Durand-Ruel, 1971); Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vols. 1–5 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2007–14).

“Les canotières en robe de flanelle bleue ou de flanelle rouge, un ombrelle, rouge ou bleue aussi, ouverte sur la tête, éclatante sous l’ardent soleil.” Guy de Maupassant, Yvette (V. Havard, 1885), pp. 68–69.

Colin B. Bailey, “Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881,” in Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), pp. 188–89.

Using the toolbar at the bottom right, any two images of the painting may be selected for comparison by clicking the layers icon to the right of the slider bar. The slider bar may be moved to transition back and forth between the two chosen images. The jagged line icon brings up a list of available annotations, or colored lines that show the significant features visible in each image, which may be turned on or off in any combination. For example, the red annotation lines, associated with the natural-light image, trace some of the painting’s key compositional features. When overlaid onto a technical image ([glossary:X-ray], [glossary:raking light], [glossary:UV], etc.), the red outlines help the viewer to better observe how features in the technical image relate to or diverge from the painting as seen with the naked eye. (When annotations are turned on, a legend appears in the upper right showing each color and its associated image type.) The circular arrow icon returns the image to the default settings (natural light, full-image view, natural-light [red] annotation on). The four-arrow icon toggles between the view of the image in the page and a full-screen view of the image. In the upper right corner, the vertical slider bar may be moved to zoom into or out of the image; different parts of the image can be accessed by clicking and dragging within the image itself. The icon in the upper left corner opens a small view of the full image, within which a red box indicates the portion of the overall image being viewed when zooming is enabled.

[glossary:Stereomicroscopic examination], in conjunction with [glossary:XRF], suggests that the signature is a mixture containing predominantly cobalt blue. The presence of cobalt blue was confirmed with XRF. See Marc Vermeulen, “Ren_33_455_Two_sisters_XRF,” Apr. 5, 2012, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

Flax was confirmed by microscopic cross-sectional fiber identification; see Inge Fiedler, “1933_445_Renoir_analysis_report,” Apr. 24, 2014, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

See the chart of standard sizes available from Bourgeois Aîné in 1888, reproduced in David Bomford, Jo Kirby, John Leighton, and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Impressionism, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London/Yale University Press, 1990), p. 46, fig. 31. The original dimensions were determined by approximating [glossary:foldover] edges based on creases and old tack holes. Small discrepancies between the current measurements and the standard size may be a result of this approximation, in addition to the restretching, [glossary:lining], slacking, and [glossary:keying out] that the [glossary:canvas] has undergone over time.

[glossary:Thread count] and [glossary:weave] information were determined by Thread Count Automation Project software. See Don H. Johnson and Robert G. Erdmann, “Thread Count Report: Two Sisters (On the Terrace), Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881 (D378/1933.455),” Feb. 2012.

Strong [glossary:cusping] along a single side of a [glossary:canvas] generally indicates that it came from the edge of a larger section of canvas (1–2 meters wide by 5–10 meters long) that was commercially prepared and later cut down to make smaller canvases. For a discussion of commercial canvas preparation, see David Bomford, Jo Kirby, John Leighton, and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Impressionism, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London/Yale University Press, 1990), p. 46; Iris Schaefer, Caroline von Saint-George, and Katja Lewerentz, Painting Light: The Hidden Techniques of the Impressionists (Skira, 2008), p. 52. Thread-angle maps were produced with Thread Count Automation Project software. See Don H. Johnson and Robert G. Erdmann, “Thread Count Report: Two Sisters (On the Terrace), Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881 (D378/1933.455),” Feb. 2012.

This depth measurement is based on fold marks and [glossary:tacking margins], which are somewhat damaged by age and previous treatment.

The [glossary:canvas stamp] is visible in transmitted light and transmitted infrared and is preserved as a tracing, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago. The location of the color merchant’s stamp, upside down and not centered, indicates that it may have been placed around horizontal and vertical crossbars. A stamp for P: Aprin also appears on Near the Lake (1879/80; cat. 10, see Manufacturer’s/supplier’s marks), which, interestingly, shares many similarities in the structure and composition of the [glossary:ground] layer.

The presence of a [glossary:sizing] layer is difficult to determine from [glossary:cross sections] due to previous conservation treatments, including a glue [glossary:lining]. [glossary:Cross-sectional analysis] did not reveal a discrete sizing layer; however, sizing was common practice in commercial preparation, and a thinly applied sizing could have been absorbed by the [glossary:canvas] and would not be visible under current circumstances. See Inge Fiedler, “1933_445_Renoir_analysis_report,” Apr. 24, 2014, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

Skeletal marine fossils, including coccoliths, are clearly visible in this layer, indicating a natural chalk. This layer also contains unusually large, iron-rich silicate particles. The [glossary:binding medium] of this layer was not analyzed and is not immediately apparent. See Inge Fiedler, “1933_445_Renoir_analysis_report,” Apr. 24, 2014, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

The [glossary:ground] composition was analyzed using [glossary:SEM/EDX], [glossary:PLM], and [glossary:XRF]. The presence of lead, calcium, and barium was confirmed with XRF and SEM/EDX. SEM/EDX also detected silica, alumina, and complex iron-containing silicates. The presence of lead was also confirmed by PLM. PLM results from 1972 were published in Marigene H. Butler, “Technical Note,” in Paintings by Renoir (Art Institute of Chicago, 1973), p. 211. PLM results were confirmed and amended by Inge Fiedler. See Fiedler, microanalysis results summary, May 8, 2013. For more detailed results and specific conditions used, see Marc Vermeulen, “Ren_33_455_Two_sisters_XRF,” Apr. 5, 2012; Inge Fiedler, “1933_445_Renoir_analysis_report,” Apr. 24, 2014, both on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

The [glossary:binding medium] was not analyzed. The estimation of an [glossary:oil] medium is based on visual examination, as well as on knowledge of Renoir’s technique and published analyses of Renoir’s paintings.

[glossary:Pigments] were identified using the following methods: lead white, cobalt blue, emerald green ([glossary:PLM], [glossary:XRF], [glossary:SEM/EDX]); vermilion (PLM 1972, XRF); ultramarine blue (electron microprobe); red lake (aluminum substrate) (PLM, SEM/EDX); zinc yellow (XRF, PLM 2012, SEM/EDX); chrome yellow, iron oxide yellow and brown (XRF, PLM 2012); viridian (PLM 2012). PLM and electron microprobe results from 1972 were published in Marigene H. Butler, “Technical Note,” in Paintings by Renoir (Art Institute of Chicago, 1973), p. 211. PLM results were confirmed and amended by Inge Fiedler. See Fiedler, microanalysis results summary, May 8, 2013. For more detailed results and specific conditions used, see Marc Vermeulen, “Ren_33_455_Two_sisters_XRF,” Apr. 5, 2012; Inge Fiedler, “1933_445_Renoir_analysis_report,” Apr. 24, 2014, both on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago. Analysis was carried out on selected areas and may not include all pigments present in the painting.

Initially identified as Naples yellow in 1972, the pigment has been confirmed to be zinc yellow. See Inge Fiedler, microanalysis results summary, May 8, 2013; Marc Vermeulen, “Ren_33_455_Two_sisters_XRF,” Apr. 5, 2012; Fiedler, “1933_445_Renoir_analysis_report,” Apr. 24, 2014, all on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

Identifying the specific type of lake used only by its autofluorescence under [glossary:UV] is difficult, as many factors, including the type of [glossary:substrate], binders, varnishes, and admixtures with other [glossary:pigments], can ultimately affect the perceived color of the [glossary:fluorescence]. Some types of madder and purpurin [glossary:lake pigments] have been reported to fluoresce orange, but other lakes, such as lacs, may fluoresce as well. The characteristics of red lakes, including their fluorescence under UV light, are discussed in Helmut Schweppe and John Winter, “Madder and Alizarin,” in Artists’ Pigments: A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, vol. 3, ed. Elisabeth West FitzHugh (Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 124–26. See also Ruth Johnston-Feller, Color Science in the Examination of Museum Objects: Nondestructive Procedures (Getty Conservation Institute, 2001), p. 207.

The [glossary:binding medium] was not analyzed. The estimation of an [glossary:oil] medium is based on visual examination, as well as on knowledge of Renoir’s technique and published analyses of Renoir’s paintings. See David Bomford, Jo Kirby, John Leighton, and Ashok Roy, Art in the Making: Impressionism, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London/Yale University Press, 1990), pp. 72–75; Aviva Burnstock, Klaas Jan van den Berg, and John House, “Painting Techniques of Pierre-Auguste Renoir: 1868–1919,” Art Matters: Netherlandish Technical Studies in Art 3 (2005), pp. 47–65.

HH [Hans Huth], condition note, Aug. 10, 1956, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

R. E. Rouse and Louis Pomerantz, examination for possible loan, July 19, 1957, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

Alfred Jakstas, treatment report, June 27, 1972, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

The presence of zinc was confirmed with [glossary:XRF] analysis. See Marc Vermeulen, “Ren_33_455_Two_sisters_XRF,” Apr. 5, 2012, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

Zinc yellow was identified with [glossary:XRF], [glossary:PLM], and [glossary:SEM/EDX]. When a small sample was taken of this color, it was noted that the yellow under the surface was slightly brighter. See Marc Vermeulen, “Ren_33_455_Two_sisters_XRF,” Apr. 5, 2012; Inge Fiedler, microanalysis results summary, May 8, 2013; Fiedler, “1933_445_Renoir_analysis_report,” Apr. 24, 2014, all on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

Kirk Vuillemot, “Renoir Frame Descriptions Final,” May 15, 2013, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

Kirk Vuillemot, “Renoir Frame Descriptions Final,” May 15, 2013, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago.

The construction and style of this frame suggest that it was of the same period as the work and may have been paired with the work upon sale. A similar frame, believed to be original to the painting, remains on Madame Léon Clapisson (1883; cat. 17, see Frame).

This transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1880–82 (no. 1451, as Femme sur une terrasse au bord de la Seine): “Acheté par Durand-Ruel Paris (stock 1451) à l’artiste le 7 juillet 1881 pour 1500 francs, Femme sur une terrasse au bord de la Seine,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. In the same letter, Durand-Ruel Archives state that the painting was also recorded in the Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1891 (no. 1214, as La terrasse): “le tableaux appartient à Durand-Ruel Paris (stock 1214),” further explaining that “Les livres de stock Durand-Ruel Paris sont renumérotés jusqu’en 1891.”

This transaction is recorded in the Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 (no. 8124, as Sur la terrasse): “Envoyé par Durand-Ruel Paris chez Durand-Ruel NY (dépôt 8124) en 1922,” as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. In the same letter, the Durand-Ruel Archives explain that the deposit number (no. 8124) is also recorded in the Durand-Ruel, Paris, deposit book for 1902–04. This corrects information previously published in Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), p. 308, and Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, with the collaboration of Camille Frémontier-Murphy, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vol. 1, 1858–1881 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2007), p. 300. Bailey identified this painting as possibly cat. 2 (Les deux soeurs, belonging to M. Ch.[arles] Ephrussi) in the Exposition des oeuvres de P.-A. Renoir, Apr. 1–25, 1883 (Durand-Ruel, Paris, Catalogue de l’exposition des oeuvres de P.-A. Renoir, exh. cat. [Pillet & Dumoulin, 1883], p. 9, cat. 2). After including the possible ownership of the painting by Charles Ephrussi in 1883, Bailey says the painting was back with the Durand-Ruel family by 1892 and that it was purchased from Joseph Durand-Ruel by Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn, Chicago. According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, the Art Institute painting was not cat. 2 in the 1883 exhibition but rather cat. 30 (Femme sur une terrasse (Chatou), no owner listed), so Ephrussi would not be in the ownership history of the painting. See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, citing “la facture consulaire,” the painting was “Vendu par Durand-Ruel NY à Mrs Coburn le 4 février 1925” for “$ 100.000” as “Sur la terrasse”; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. See also a letter on Durand-Ruel letterhead, Mar. 18, 1932, verifying that Coburn purchased the painting from Durand-Ruel, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. Colin B. Bailey suggests that the Art Institute’s painting might rather have been cat. 2 (Les deux soeurs, belonging to M. Ch.[arles] Ephrussi) in this exhibition catalogue; Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), p. 308.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. See also Lionello Venturi, Les archives de l’impressionnisme: Lettres de Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, et autres; Mémoires de Paul Durand-Ruel; Documents, vol. 1 (Durand-Ruel, 1939), p. 77, which states that the exhibition opened on April 10, 1886, and lasted for one month: “Celle-ci, qui s’ouvre le 10 avril dans les salles de l’ ‘American Art Association’, dure un mois.” Venturi also states that the exhibition was moved to the National Academy of Design on May 25: “Les succès est suffisant pour qu’elle soit transportée le 25 mai dans les salles de la ‘National Academy of design’, où les impressionnistes reçoivent pour la première fois une sorte de consécration officielle.”

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, the Art Institute’s painting was included in this exhibition as no. 13. However, no. 13 in the exhibition catalogue is La loge, so it is more likely that Sur la terrasse (no. 12) is the Art Institute’s painting.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

For the identification of the Art Institute’s painting as cat. 30, see Bernhard Echte and Walter Feilchenfeldt, eds., with assistance by Petra Cordioli, Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer: Die Ausstellungen 1905–1908 (Nimbus. Kunst und Bücher, 2013), pp. 208 (ill.), 213, 803.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. Though the exhibition catalogue does not include the dates of the exhibition, newspaper articles confirm that the exhibition opened on May 14, 1908, and closed on October 31, 1908. See “Two Nations Show Products in London,” New York Times, May 24, 1908, p. C3; “Franco-British Exhibition Closes,” New York Times, Nov. 1, 1908, p. 16.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. According to Hayward Gallery, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Renoir, exh. cat. (Arts Council of Great Britain, 1985), p. 317, this exhibition was held February–March 1912 and included the same forty-one works that were exhibited in the Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser exhibition Ausstellung August Renoir, held mid-January–mid-February 1912 in Munich.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. For exhibition dates, see Daniel Wildenstein, Monet: Catalogue raisonné/Werkverzeichnis, vol. 4, Nos. 1596–1983 et les grandes décorations (Taschen/Wildenstein Institute, 1996), p. 1021.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

The exhibition catalogue lists the dates as June 1–November 1, 1933, but newspaper articles confirm that the exhibition opened on May 23. See India Moffett, “Art Show of 1,500 World Famous Treasures Is Opened at Institute,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 23, 1933, p. 17; Virginia Gardner, “Record Throng of 1,367,000 Views Art Show,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 29, 1933, p. 7.

The exhibition catalogue lists the dates as June 1–November 1, 1934, but newspaper articles confirm that the exhibition closed on October 31. See “Fair Art Exhibition Closes Forever at 5:30 This Afternoon,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Oct. 31, 1934, p. 2; “Shippers Start Dismantling Art Exhibition Today,” Chicago Daily Tribune, Nov. 1, 1934, p. 3.

See “Report of the Director for 1934,” Museum News, The Toledo Museum of Art 70 (Mar. 1935), n.pag., where the exhibition is referred to as Nineteenth Century French Paintings.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

The catalogue lists the closing date as February 9, 1997, but the exhibition was extended for two weeks. See Phillips Collection, Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” 1996–1997, Finding Aid, http://www.phillipscollection.org/sites/default/files/attachments/impressionists-on-the-seine.pdf.

According to shipping out order D1521, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago; and receipt of object 44456, on file in Museum Registration, Art Institute of Chicago. For the exhibition dates, see the State Hermitage Museum’s exhibition archive online: “Exhibition Archive,” http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/04/hm4_3.html.

According to Colin B. Bailey, the painting was “Reproduced almost immediately in Hoschedé’s L’Art de la Mode”; Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), p. 186. See also Juliet Bareau to the Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 14, 1990, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. Bareau states that she “came across the most amazing reproduction in L’Art et la Mode, vol. 2, 1881–82: Renoir’s ‘Two Sisters’ in violent colour.”

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010. This catalogue was reprinted in Theodore Reff, ed., Impressionist Group Exhibitions, Modern Art in Paris 23 (Garland, 1981), n.pag.

See also Ruth Berson, ed., The New Painting: Impressionism, 1874–1886; Documentation, vol. 1, Reviews (Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco/University of Washington Press, 1996), pp. 392. The painting is not named in the article, but it is described as “Son double portrait pendu dans l’escalier,” which Berson identifies as cat. 158 (Renoir’s Pivoines); however, there is a note in the Art Institute curatorial file which suggests that this label is incorrect and should be labeled as cat. 138 (Renoir’s Les deux soeurs), the Art Institute’s painting.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. Colin B. Bailey suggests that the Art Institute’s painting might instead have been cat. 2 (Les deux soeurs, belonging to M. Ch.[arles] Ephrussi) in this exhibition catalogue; Colin B. Bailey, with the assistance of John B. Collins, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, exh. cat. (National Gallery of Canada/Yale University Press, 1997), p. 308.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Reprinted as Richard Muther, The History of Modern Painting, vol. 3, rev. ed. (J. M. Dent/E. P. Dutton, 1907), p. 131 (ill.).

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, the Art Institute’s painting was included in this exhibition as no. 13. However, no. 13 in the exhibition catalogue is La loge, so it is more likely that Sur la terrasse (no. 12) is the Art Institute’s painting.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Reprinted as Reginald Howard Wilenski, Modern French Painters (Faber & Faber, 1944), opp. p. 39, pl. 12; pp. 8, 338.

Reprinted as Art Institute of Chicago, “Department of Reproductions,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 38, 3, pt. 1 (Mar. 1944), p. 49; Art Institute of Chicago, “Department of Reproductions,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 38, 4 (Apr.–May 1944), p. 70.

Reprinted as Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1948), p. 33; Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 1956), p. 34.

Included in typescript catalogue supplement, Nov. 15, 1966, p. 50; Sept. 15, 1967, p. 50; Dec. 18, 1968, p. 76; Feb. 10, 1971, p. 95; Sept. 15, 1971, p. 12, all on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago. Reprinted as Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Art Institute of Chicago, 1968), pp. 283 (ill.), 396–97.

Reprinted as Walter Pach, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Masters of Art (Abrams, 2003), front cover (detail), front flap (ill.), pp. 82–83 (ill.).

Reprinted as John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago (Abrams, 1977), p. 87 (ill.); Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago (Thames & Hudson, 1987), p. 87 (ill.).

Reprinted as Elda Fezzi, L’opera completa di Renoir: Nel periodo impressionista, 1869–1883, Classici dell’arte 59 (Rizzoli, 1981), p. 109, cat. 471 (ill.). For a French translation, see Elda Fezzi and Jacqueline Henry, Tout l’oeuvre peint de Renoir: Période impressionniste 1869–1883, trans. Simone Darses (Flammarion, 1985), p. 107, cat. 450 (ill.).

Reprinted as Diane Kelder, The Great Book of French Impressionism (Artabras, 1997), back cover; p. 233, pl. 230; 391.

Reprinted as Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide (Revised Edition), selected by James N. Wood (Art Institute of Chicago, 2003), p. 157 (ill.).

Reprinted as Charles Moffett, “Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Young Women at the Water’s Edge,” in The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, European and American Masters, ed. Libby Lumpkin, exh. cat. (Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, Mirage Resorts, 1999), pp. 59, 62 (ill.).

The latter was republished as Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Age of French Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago, rev. and exp. ed. (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2010; repr. 2013), pp. 10 (detail); 24; 80–81, cat. 34 (ill.).

See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. In the same letter, the Durand-Ruel Archives explain that “Les livres de stock Durand-Ruel Paris étaient renumérotés jusqu’en 1891.”

See Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

Located in the Durand-Ruel Archives; see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago. In the same letter, the Durand-Ruel Archives state, “Sur la terrasse 1881, 1891 (sans date ni mois plus précis).”

The label was located on the previous [glossary:backing board] (discarded); now preserved in conservation object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

The label was located on the previous [glossary:backing board] (discarded); now preserved in conservation object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

The label was located on the previous [glossary:backing board] (discarded); now preserved in conservation object file, Art Institute of Chicago. According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, “peut-être une étiquette Durand-Ruel,” see Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archvies, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file, Art Institute of Chicago.

The [glossary:canvas stamp] is visible in transmitted light and transmitted infrared and is preserved as a tracing, on file in the Conservation Department, Art Institute of Chicago. The same stamp also appears on Near the Lake (1879/80; cat. 10).

See Don H. Johnson, C. Richard Johnson, Jr., Andrew G. Klein, William A. Sethares, H. Lee, and Ella Hendriks, “A Thread Counting Algorithm for Art Forensics,” 2009 IEEE Thirteenth Digital Signal Processing and Fifth IEEE Signal Processing Education Workshop (IEEE, 2009), pp. 679–84; doi:10.1109/DSP.2009.4786009.

See Damon M. Conover, John K. Delaney, Paola Ricciardi, and Murray H. Loew, “Towards Automatic Registration of Technical Images of Works of Art,” in Computer Vision and Image Analysis of Art II, ed. David G. Stork, James Coddington, and Anna Bentkowska-Kafel, Proc. SPIE 7869 (SPIE/IS&T, 2011); doi:10.1117/12.872634.