Invoice from Durand-Ruel, New York, to Robert Sterling Clark for the purchase of five paintings. Dated 18 February 1933.

Receipt from Durand-Ruel, New York, to Robert Sterling Clark for the purchase of five paintings. Dated 3 March 1933.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

French, 1841–1919

Bay of Naples, Evening

1881

Renoir's painting of Naples focuses on the bustle of daily life near the harbor. The scene is full of local flavor—characteristic Neapolitan boats, donkeys loaded with supplies, a woman carrying a burden on her head. In the distance, smoke issues from the mouth of the Mount Vesuvius, a volcano. Parallel strokes of paint structure the composition, with reds and oranges contrasting the purple and blue shadows and yellow and white buildings across the bay.

Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	22 13/16 x 31 13/16 in. (57.9 x 80.8 cm) Frame: 33 1/2 x 42 3/8 in. (85.1 x 107.6 cm)
Object Number	1955.587
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	On View

Image Caption

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Bay of Naples, Evening, 1881, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.587

Select Bibliography

Bailey, Colin B. and Christopher Riopelle ed. Renoir's Landscape 1861-1883. The National Gallery, London, February 21- May 20, 2007; National Gallery of Canada, June 8- September 9, 2007; Philadelphia Museum of Art, September 30, 2007- January 6, 2008. London: National Gallery Company Limited. 2007. Néret, Gilles. Renoir: Painter of Happiness 18411919. Cologne: Taschen GmbH, 2001. Durand-Ruel. A Selection from the Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley. Exhibition catalogue. Paris: Durand-Ruel, 1905. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.. Exhibit Six: Impressionist Paintings.. Opened Sept. 18, 1956.. Wildenstein & Company. An Exhibition of Treasures from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts: Paintings, drawings & rare silver, for the benefit of the Committee to Rescue Italian Art, inc. (CRIA). Exhibition catalogue. New York: Wildenstein & Company, 1967. Wildenstein & Co., New York.. Renoir: The Gentle Rebel. Oct. 24-Nov. 30, 1974.. 1974.. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford.. Exchange for loan to "In the Studio." Aug. 25-Oct. 25, 1981.. 1981.. Kern, Steven, et al. A Passion for Renoir: Sterling and Francine Clark Collect, 19161951. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in association with the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1996 John Rewald.. The History of Impressionism.. New York: Museum of Modern Art.. 1961, 1973.. Barbara Ehrlich White.. "Renoir's Trip to Italy.". Art Bulletin, 51:4.. (Dec. 1969).:pp. 333-351.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1970. Elda Fezzi.. L'opera complete di Renoir, nel periodo impressionista 1869-1883.. Milan: Rizzoli.. 1972.. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1972. Callen, Anthea. Renoir. London: Oresko Books. 1978. . Renoir. Great Masters of Modern Art. 9. Tokyo: Kodansha. 1979. The Open University.. Modern Art and Modernism: Gauguin and Post-Impressionism.. Milton Keynes: The Open University Library.. 1982.. White, Barbara Ehrlich. Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters. New York: Abrams, 1984. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1984. Raffaele de Grada.. Renoir.. New York: Arch Cape Press.. 1989.. Raffaele de Grada.. Renoir.. Milan: Mondadori.. 1989.. Raffaele de Grada.. Renoir.. Milan: Fenice 2000, also Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch ed.. 1989. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Distel, Anne. Renoir: "Il faut embellir". Paris: Réunion des Musées Nationaux & Découvertes Gallimard. 1993. Steven Kern.. "Der Mensch als Kriterium der Schönheit: Auguste Renoirs Stilistische Entwicklung anhand seiner Badenden.". Österreichische Galerie: Belvedere: Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, 1/97.. (1997).:pp. 46-61.. Lees, Sarah, ed. Nineteenth-Century European Paintings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; New Haven and London: distributed by Yale University Press, 2012. Ganz, James A. and Richard R. Brettell. Great French Paintings from the Clark: Barbizon through Impressionism. Exhibition catalogue. New York: Skira Rizzoli Publications; Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 2011.

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Provenance

The artist, sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, 22 May 1882; [Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1882–88, sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, 11 July 1888]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1888–94, sold to Davis, 23 Apr. 1894]; Erwin Davis, New York (1894–99, sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, 9 Apr. 1899); [Durand-Ruel, New York, sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, 9 Apr. 1899]; [Durand- Ruel, Paris, 1899–1933, sold to Durand-Ruel, New York, 2 Feb. 1933]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, sold to Clark, 3 Mar. 1933]; Robert Sterling Clark (1933–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.