The Seine at Chatou by Renoir in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, July 2011

The Seine at Chatou

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919)

1881

Medium/Technique Oil on canvas

Dimensions 73.3 x 92.4 cm (28 7/8 x 36 3/8 in.)

Credit Line Gift of Arthur Brewster Emmons

Accession Number19.771

Collections: Europe

Classifications: Paintings

This springtime view of a riverbank at Chatou, a popular boating spot along the Seine in the Paris suburbs, quivers in a profusion of color and light. Renoir carefully differentiates his fluttering brushwork: delicate wisps of green and yellow suggest a breeze in the grass, while a mass of white and pink flecks render a flowering tree. His lively strokes dissolve the contours of forms—the figure of a young girl gathering flowers at right merges with her lush surroundings.

Inscriptions: Lower right: Renoir

Provenance: August 25, 1891, sold by the artist to Durand-Ruel, Paris (stock no. 1326) [see note 1]; from Durand-Ruel, Paris to Durand-Ruel, New York (stock no. 1324); January 26, 1900, sold by Durand-Ruel, New York to Mrs. Blair. 1901, J. M. Sehley, New York [see note 2]; March 4, 1901, sold by J. M. Sehley to Durand-Ruel, New York (stock no. 2511); March 5, 1906, sold by Durand-Ruel to Arthur Brewster Emmons (b. 1850 - d. 1922), Newport, R.I., and New York; 1919, gift of Arthur Brewster Emmons to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 11, 1919)

NOTES:
[1] The provenance was provided in a letter from Durand-Ruel, Paris to the MFA (January 4, 1962; in MFA curatorial file).

[2] In the letter of 1962 (see above, n. 1), Durand-Ruel identified this collector only as "Mr. Sehley"; notes in the MFA curatorial file, however, identify him as J. M. Sehley of New York. It is possible that this was not, in fact, a Mr. Sehley, but James Montfort Schley (b. 1852 - d. 1924), a prominent New York physician.

Text from: collections.mfa.org/objects/31801/the-seine-at-chatou