Claude Monet

Executed in 1872, this vertical portrait utilizes oil paint applied to a canvas support measuring 65 by 50 centimeters. The composition features a half-length depiction of the subject against a blue background, capturing him leaning forward while reading a book and holding a smoking pipe in his left hand. As an early work by Auguste Renoir, the piece exemplifies the painterly approach characteristic of the period, focusing on the informal capture of the sitter engaged in a daily activity.

The work remains in stable condition within the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., having entered the institution in 1985.

The work, an oil on canvas portrait of Claude Monet painted by Auguste Renoir in 1872, entered the collection of Jean Dollfus in Paris, where it was likely exhibited at the 1876 Impressionist show and later sold at Dollfus’s 1912 auction. It passed through the dealer Paul Rosenberg before entering the holdings of Pierre Decourcelle, whose 1926 sale transferred it to Durand‑Ruel in New York and Paris. The painting was acquired by Arthur Sachs in December 1928 and, via Bernheim‑Jeune, reached Paul Mellon in 1960; the work was gifted to the National Gallery of Art in 1985. Its creation is documented as having been completed in 1872.

The painting has been held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., since 1985, when it was gifted by Paul Mellon. It measures 65 by 50 cm and is catalogued within the NGA collection. Prior to entering the NGA, the work passed through several private collections: Jean Dollfus in Paris possibly by 1876 and certainly by 1892; Pierre Decourcelle from 1926; and Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia, who acquired it in 1960.

The painting's documented exhibition history includes a loan by Dollfus to the 1876 Impressionist exhibition and to the 1892 Renoir exhibition at Durand-Ruel, where it was shown under the title Le Liseur.

Renoir painted this 1872 oil portrait of Claude Monet while the sitter reads, a work documented in Renoir’s catalogue raisonné and exhibited in the 1876 Impressionist show and the 1892 Renoir retrospective at Durand‑Ruel (sale records, provenance). The painting entered the National Gallery of Art collection through a 1960 Bernheim‑Jeune transaction and a 1985 gift from Paul Mellon, reflecting the artist’s early portraiture within the broader Impressionist network. Scholarship identifies it as one of two Monet portraits owned by collector Jean Dollfus, underscoring its role in tracing Monet’s early public image and the cross‑generational exchange among French avant‑garde collectors.

Auguste Renoir's 1872 oil on canvas painting, titled Claude Monet, presents a portrait of the renowned Impressionist artist. This work captures Monet in a relaxed pose, offering a direct and unadorned representation of the sitter. The painting serves as a significant document of the friendship and artistic exchange between two pivotal figures in the development of modern art.