PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841-1919) - Lot 39

PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841-1919) Coco (Claude, son of the artist) in profile in medallion - first version, the model conceived around [1907], Artist's proof 5 Medallion in high relief. Black patina bonze proof. Lost-wax casting. Early post-mortem edition. Signed RENOIR and marked E.A. 5 on the bottom right, stamped C. VALSUANI Cire perdue under the cap. D.22,3cm Important: A document from Paul Renoir, grandson of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and son of Claude Renoir, dated March 2, 1973 and signed by him, certifying that this work is indeed a work by his grandfather sold by his father, will be given to the purchaser. Historical background: The youngest child of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude, known as Coco, regularly served as his father's model - particularly in sculpture. Indeed, he was the subject of his first two sculptural experiments, the only two modelled entirely by his own hands - a bas-relief and then a bust, consecutively dated 1907 and 1908. There are two versions of this medallion: the first, with its more relaxed surface treatment, is less well known, and its plaster is kept at the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo; the second, with a variation on the hair, is wiser, and its plaster is now kept at the Musée Marmottan-Monet. Public collections and related works: - The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo - The plaster cast of our medallion model is kept in the collections of this institution under inventory number S.1960-0001. - Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley, Massachusetts (USA) - Another bronze proof of our model, numbered E.A. 1, is held in the collections of this institution under inventory number 1983.38. - Musée Marmottan-Monet, Paris - The plaster cast of the second medallion model, with a hair treatment variant, is kept in the collections of this institution under inventory number 5112. - Musée d'Orsay, Paris - A bronze proof of the second medallion model is kept in the collections of this institution under inventory number RF1999. - Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-arts de la Ville de Paris - A plaster proof of the second medallion model is kept in the collections of this institution under inventory number PPS3437. - Musée Renoir, Cagnes-sur-Mer - A bronze proof of the second medallion model is kept in the collections of this institution under inventory number 54-8-1. Bibliography and related works: - Julius Meier-Graefe - Auguste Renoir - H.Floury Éditeur, Paris, 1912. A plaster proof of the second medallion model is reproduced on page 146. - Paul Haesaerts - Renoir sculptor - Éditions Reynal & Hitchcock, New York, 1947. A bronze proof of the second medallion model, referenced under catalog number I and reproduced on plate III. - Claude Renoir, Paul Renoir & Michel Guino - Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Richard Guino, sculptures et dessins - Nice, 1974. A bronze proof of the second medallion model reproduced in the book, unpaginated. - Pierre Kjellberg - Les Bronzes du XIXe siècle - Dictionnaire des sculpteurs - Les Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 2005. A bronze proof of the second medallion model is reproduced on page 600. - Renoir au XXe siècle - Catalogue de l'exposition itinérante organisé Grand Palais, Paris (23 septembre 2009 - 4 janvier 2010); Los Angeles County museum of art (14 février - 9 mai 2010); Philadelphia museum of art (17 juin - 6 septembre 2010), Éditions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 2009. A bronze proof of the second medallion model reproduced on page 346. - Guino / Renoir, la couleur de la sculpture - Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud, Perpignan (June 24 - November 5, 2023), Silvana Editoriale, Milan, 2023. A bronze proof of the second medallion model referenced under number 54 in the catalog and reproduced on page 110.