Renoir’s Personal Effects and Sculpture Bring $1.28+ Million at Heritage Auctions
DALLAS—The single largest archive of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s personally-owned objects - from his signature polka-dot scarf, which realized $3,750, to the most ambitious sculpture executed by Renoir and Richard Guino, La Grande Venus Victrix, temporarily stored in a shed after Renoir’s death, which realized $545,000 - led an expansive grouping dedicated to the Impressionist icon in Heritage Auctions’ The Renoir Estate Collection Signature® Auction, Sept. 19 in New York, which totaled $1,285,563.
“This collection provided an intimate glimpse inside the personal and professional life of Renoir,” said Brian Roughton, Managing Director of Fine Arts at Heritage Auctions, “and the worldwide interest generated by the event, and the significant prices realized, show that Renoir is still as relevant and beloved today as he has ever been.”
The widespread interest in the collection translated into spirited bidding across the auction, with a majority of lots, especially Renoir’s correspondence and personal papers, selling well in excess of their original estimates.
This museum-level collection is significant for its completeness in revealing volumes about Renoir, his art and his personal life. The Heritage event also represents the last time this collection will appear assembled ever again.
Highlights of the 143 lots sold include, but are not limited to:
Les Becasse (The Woodcocks): One of, if not the last painting done by Renoir in the final hours of his life. Realized: $125,000.
Original copper engraving plates of Renoir works along with glass plate negatives of Renoir, his family, models and paintings: Realized $35,000.
Renoir’s spectacles: Realized $6,250.
Renoir’s cigarette holder: Realized $1,563.
Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $800 million, and 800,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com
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