Renoir's Nude Bather's

 

RENOIR
Renoir's art is that of his own inspirations, the sources of sensuous delights from his own enchantmants, unrivaled in their lyricisms except by just a certain few. He transformed what he saw with his own eyes, eyes of a lover and elements of his vision, which gives a sense of pleasure in his subjects communicating to us freely and spontaniously with so much joy of love

Renoir's works of art is estimated by some to be around four thousand. In 1862 and 1863 he was rebuked by his professors at the the Ecole des Beaux Arts and was accused of just dabbling paint. He answered by saying " Of course I have fun putting colors on canvas and certainly if it didn't amuse me, I beg you to believe that I wouldn't do it". In the 80's there were a few years of hardship and at the age of 41 he had recurrent illnesses from then on thru the rest of his life.

He endowed everything with grace and charm, actions of human vivacious gestures, showing us his sitters clothed and unclothed. The female nude was his favorite subject, their structure, because in them he found delight. The former which were ample and warm and fruitful, held the promise of joy.

Renoir started earning money at painting as an impessionist and he discovered how to go beyond that. He never ceased his studies of the great masters before him. When asked where he learned to paint he would answer, "In the museums, parbleu!". His greatness springs from this and his use of color, unparalleled by his simplified decorative compositions and above all his great love for all humanity.

Bob Miller 1998
In Renoir's many paintings, there are unbelievable hidden images in the background and also in the human figures. This technique is of the artist himself and these qualities are rarely able to be copied. Copiers do not see what the artist did and would have no idea about the master's secret, and if they did they would cease their copying and start to create thier own works of art.

Corot, for example, when he was living, an art appeciator of his style ask him to sign a piece of art that he had bought as a Corot. Corot told him that he didn't do that piece of art work. When the person hung his head and started to walk away, he said one moment let me have that. He took it in the back of his studio, in his art room. When he returned in five minute or so, he would then sign it and say, "Now you have a Corot!".

Not all renouned artist understood what they were doing to make their works desirable. Delocroix once said that he didn't discover what he was doing to make his work desirable until he lost all of his teeth. I am sure that he wasn't talking about in a bar fight.
Anyway, getting back to Renoir. I had seen Renoir's Nude Bather in San Fransisco hanging in a night club dinner house. I sat at the table underneath the painting, you could actually reach up and touch it while sitting down. I remember it at that time having a partial signature on the bottom left hand side of the painting. The signature went south from everyone touching it throughout the years, and thank god for that, Butterfield and Butterfield in San Fransisco might have went into a little more research before saying it was a copy.

The gentleman who I purchased it from also bought anouther piece from the night club owner's estate. A 17th century unknown Spanish lady, what he called her or he was told it was. I don't know which but I was able to to purchase that painting also. That drawing is further discussed in the Velazqueze section.
Below: Painting belonging to The New Discoveries Art Gallery private collection. Above Two: Two different paintings of Renoir's "Young Bather", one belongs to the Met. Musium of Art, the other in a private collection.
Black and white copies of the three paintings of the "Young Bather".
Right: Sketch that emphasises the two faces and the couple to the side. By Bob Miller.