Renoir La Pierre au Trois Croquis (The Stone with Three Sketches), 1904; A warm and loving depiction of a group of three women, the delicate soft appearance of these portraits evokes a sense of the romanticism and sensitivity put forth by Renoir in this piece. The watercolor wash effect creates a fluid layering of tones, giving depth and richness to the image.

Three women are arranged with one portrait encompassing the majority of the left side, and two busts in the upper right. The woman at the left grabs the viewer, with the deep rich dark tones of her hair and intent shading within her face. Given a soft expression, she looks below to what we cannot see adding intrigue and a mysterious air to the work. The two smaller figures recede back into space, each with their heads tilted in the same direction, as though all three are examining the same thing out of our sight. With a romantic air, created through the use of layering washes of tones, the loose quality of the imagery gives a sense of freshness and immediacy of Renoir's impression of the figures. The artist's technical skill and mastery is evident in this work, expressing his strong sense of form and aesthetic beauty.

Created in c.1904, this piece was printed on vellum paper from the second state of two (from the total edition of 1000, 1-50 on Japan, 51-1,000 on vellum); included in Ambroise Vollard's L'album des douze lithographies originales de Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1919). Printed by Auguste Clot, Paris, this work is signed in the stone in the lower left. All of the stones were de-faced after the publication, as documented by Joseph Stella.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Renoir La Pierre au Trois Croquis (The Stone with Three Sketches), 1904 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. Johnson, U. E. (1977). Ambroise Vollard, Editeur: Prints, Books, Bronzes. The Museum of Modern Art, NY. Listed as catalogue raisonné no. 151 on pgs. 129-30.

2. Stella, J. G. The Graphic Work of Renoir - Catalogue Raisonné. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 41.

3. Delteil, L. (1999). Pierre-Auguste Renoir: L'œuvre grave et lithographié - Catalogue Raisonné. Hyman, A. (Ed.). Alan Wofsy Fine Arts: San Francisco. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 41 on pg. 88-9.

4. Roger-Marx, Claude. Les Lithographies de Renoir, Monte-Carlo. Listed and illustrated as cat. no. 16 on pgs. 56-7.

5. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:

Renoir La Pierre au Trois Croquis (The Stone with Three Sketches), 1904 is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complimentary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.