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Seascape

Auguste Renoir

1879

oil

canvas

From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century Marine

Dominant colour

About this work

You see a painting of rolling waves and a bright blue sky. The colors are blended in a way that makes the sea and sky look almost like one thing. This blending is interesting because it gives the painting a soft, calm feel. Check out the technique of glazing to learn more about how artists like Pierre-Auguste Renoir achieve this effect.

The story of this work

Provenance

Alphonse Legrand, Paris, by Feb. 21, 1890 [this and the following per Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1884–90 (no. 2637), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]; sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, Feb. 21, 1890; transferred to Durand-Ruel, New York, by April 19, 1892 [this and the following per the Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1888–93 (no. 900, as Marine or Stormy sea on the coast near Dieppe), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial…

Exhibition history

Possibly Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition A. Renoir, May 1892, cat. 100. Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Renoir, Feb. 3–Apr. 1, 1973, cat. 27 (ill.). Highland Park, Ill., Neison Harris, Mar. 7–May 21, 1975, no cat. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, June 28–Sept. 16, 1984, cat. 120 (ill.); Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 23, 1984–Jan. 6, 1985; Paris, Galeries Nationales, Grand Palais, as L’impressionnisme et le paysage français, Feb. 4–Apr. 22, 1985. Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, Monet: The Seine and the Sea, 1878–1883,…

Publication history

Possibly Durand-Ruel, Paris, Exposition A. Renoir, exh. cat. (Imp. de l’Art/E. Ménard, 1892), p. 47, no. 100. Art Institute of Chicago, Handbook of Sculpture, Architecture, and Paintings, pt. 2, Paintings (Art Institute of Chicago, 1922), p. 69, cat. 845. Art Institute of Chicago, “Accessions and Loans,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 16, 3 (May 1922), p. 47. Art Institute of Chicago, “The Potter Palmer Collection of Paintings,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 16, 3 (May 1922), p. 38. Art Institute of Chicago, A Guide to the Paintings in the Permanent Collection (Art…

Read the full account in the museum source.