Pierre-Auguste Renoir
French, 1841–1919
Venice, the Doge's Palace
1881
When Renoir first visited Venice in 1881, he was drawn to one of its most famous sights: the façade of the Doge’s Palace across from the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. This view was very popular with artists; Renoir joked that “there were at least six of us queuing up to paint it.” The buildings are painted with considerable accuracy, the soft pinks and creams of their sunlit walls contrasting with the rich blue of the sky and reflecting in the undulating waters of the canal.
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 21 7/16 x 25 7/8 in. (54.5 x 65.7 cm) Frame: 28 3/8 x 32 3/4 x 3 in. (72.1 x 83.2 x 7.6 cm) |
| Object Number | 1955.596 |
| Acquisition | Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Venice, the Doge's Palace, 1881, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.596
Select Bibliography
Paris.. Septième Exposition des artistes indépendants.. March 1-31, 1882..
Paris: Galerie Durand-Ruel.. P. A. Renoir.. April 1-25 1883..
Paris: Galerie Durand-Ruel.. . 1892..
Durand-Ruel. A Selection from the Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley. Exhibition catalogue. Paris: Durand-Ruel, 1905.
Paris: Galerie Durand-Ruel. Oeuvres importantes de Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley.. Jan. 5-24, 1925..
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.. Exhibit Six: Impressionist Paintings.. Opened Sept. 18, 1956..
Sydney (Australia): Art Gallery of New South Wales. Modern Masters: Manet to Matisse. April 10-May 11, 1975; National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne, May 28-June 22, 1975; Museum of Modern Art, New York, Aug. 4-Sept. 1, 1975. Cat. ed. by William S. Lieberman.
Fernandez, Rafael. A Scene of Light and Glory: Approaches to Venice. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1982.
Nagoya (Japan): Nagoya City Art Museum.. Renoir Retrospective. Nagoya City Art Museum, Oct. 15-Dec. 11, 1988; Hiroshima Museum of Art, Dec. 17, 1988-Feb. 12, 1989; Nara Prefectural Museum of Art, Feb. 18-April 9, 1989.
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
Jacques de Biez.. "Les petits Salons: les 'Indépendants.'". Paris.. (March 8, 1882)..
Ph[ilippe] Burty.. Les Aquarellistes, les indépendants et le cercle des arts libéraux.". La République française.. March 8, 1882..
Charles Flor.. "Deux expositions.". Le National.. March 3, 1882..
Hepp, Alexandre. "Impressionisme". Le Voltaire. March 3, 1882..
Hustin, A. "L'exposition des peintres indépendants". L'Estafette. March 3, 1882..
Hustin, A. "L'Exposition des Impressionnistes". Moniteur des arts. March 10, 1882..
La Fare.. "Exposition des impressionnistes.. Le Gaulois.. March 2, 1882..
Leroi, Paul. "Salon de 1882." L'Art 29 (1882).
Leroy, Louis. "Exposition des impressionnistes." Le Charivari, 17 March 1882.
Michel, André. "Exposition des Peintures: Les indépendants". Le Parlement. March 4, 1882..
Jean de Nivelle.. "Les peintres indépendants.". Le Soleil.. March 4, 1882..
Robert Henry.. "Chronique parisienne: Le Salon des impressionnistes.". La Petite Presse.. March 5, 1882..
Silvestre, Armand. "Le Monde des Arts: Expositions particulières: Septième Exposition des artistes indépendants." La Vie moderne (11 March 1882).
Wolff, Albert. "Quelques expositions". Le Figaro.. March 2, 1882..
Eugène Manet.. Letter to his wife Berthe Morisot, March 1, 1882, repr. in Denis Rouart, ed., Correspondance de Berthe Morisot, Paris, 1950.
Jamot, Paul. "Renoir (1841–1919)." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 8 (December 1923).
Julius Meier-Graefe.. Renoir.. Leipzig: Klinkhardt & Biermann.. 1929..
Vollard, Ambroise. Renoir, An Intimate Record. New York: A. A. Knopf. 1925; 1934.
Barnes, Albert C. and Violette de Mazia. The Art of Renoir. New York. 1935.
Michel Florisoone.. Renoir.. Paris.. 1937..
R. H. Wilenski.. Modern French Painters.. New York.. 1940..
de Kooning, Elaine. "Renoir: as if by Magic." Art News 55 (Oct. 1956) :pp. 43-45, 66-67.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1963.
Soichi Tominaga.. L'Art moderne du Monde, vol. 4, Renoir.. Tokyo: Zauho Press.. 1969..
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.
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.
Elda Fezzi.. L'opera complete di Renoir, nel periodo impressionista 1869-1883.. Milan: Rizzoli.. 1972..
René Huyghe.. La peinture française au XIXe: Le relève du réel.. Paris: Flammarion.. 1974..
Tasuo Yoshikado, ed.. The Masterpieces by Great Masters of Modern Art, vol. 2, Renoir.. Tokyo: Gakken Co.. 1976..
Callen, Anthea. Renoir. London: Oresko Books. 1978.
Mukherjee, Sushil. "Treasure of the Clark Museum." Berkshire Magazine (Winter 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.
Bruno F. Schneider.. Renoir, rev. ed.. New York: Crown Publishers.. 1984..
London: Hayward Gallery (Arts Council of Great Britain).. Renoir. Jan. 30-April 21, 1985; Grand Palais, Paris, May 14-Sept. 2, 1985; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Oct. 9, 1985-Jan. 5, 1986. Catalogue by John House.
Washington (DC): National Gallery of Art. The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886. Jan. 16-April 6, 1986;. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, April 19-July 6, 1986.. Cat. by Charles S. Moffett.
Norio Shimada.. The Artists Who Left Great Works.. Tokyo: Shinshusha.. 1986..
Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992.
Bernard Denvir.. The Chronicle of Impressionism.. London: Thames & Hudson.. 1993..
"Various Properties: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Le pont d'Argenteuil.". New York: Christie's: Impressionist and Modern Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture (Part I), April 30, 1996.. pp. 20-23..
Ruth Berson.. The New Painting, Impressionism 1874-1886. Documentation, 2 vols.. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.. 1996..
Fort Worth (TX): Kimbell Art Museum. Monet and the Mediterranean. June 8-Sept. 7, 1997; Brooklyn Museum, Oct. 10, 1997-Jan. 18, 1998. Cat. by Joachim Pissarro.. New York: Rizzoli..
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..
New York: Christie's.. Impressionist & 19th Century Art, New York, November 18, 1998.
Néret, Gilles. Renoir: Painter of Happiness 18411919. Cologne: Taschen GmbH, 2001.
Shelburne Museum, Vermont. Exhibited in the Electra Havemeyer Webb Memorial Building. Nov. 15-Dec. 31, 2000 and Mar. 31-Sep. 8, 2001.
François Daulte.. Auguste Renoir, Catalogue Raisonné de l'Oeuvre Peint.. Paris: Durand-Ruel.. 1971..
Cros, Phillippe. Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Paris: Finest S.A./Editions Pierre Terrail. 2003:pp. 98, 152.
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.
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.
Friedman, Hannah. John Singer Sargent's A Street in Venice: Complications of Looking. Course paper, Art History 555: John Singer Sargent, Graduate Program in the History of Art, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, 2006.
EUROPEAN PAINTINGS CATALOGUE ENTRY
Provenance
The artist, probably sold to Durand-Ruel, 12 May 1882, as Vue de Venise;¹ [probably Durand-Ruel, Paris, from 1882]; E. Oppenheim (until 1897, his sale, Drouot, Paris, 11 May 1897, no. 21, as Vue de Venise, sold to Durand-Ruel);² [Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York, 1897–1933, sold to Clark, 3 March 1933]; Robert Sterling Clark (1933–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955. 1. According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, the painting in this transaction cannot be firmly identified; further, there is no label on the reverse of the Clark painting with a stock number corresponding to this sale. 2. Michel Florisoone, Renoir, 1942, p. 167, states that this painting was formerly in the collection of Dr. Hirschmann; Barbara Ehrlich White, "Renoir's Trip to Italy," Art Bulletin 51 (Dec. 1969), p. 345, cites this information, and adds that the Hirschmann collection was in Amsterdam. Hirschmann’s name, however, may have been erroneously associated with this painting.
