View at Guernsey

1883

In the fall of 1883, Renoir spent a month on Guernsey, an island off the coast of Normandy. This vibrant work depicts one of the island’s most picturesque locations. The path along the bottom of the painting shows the route taken by visitors to admire the bay’s rocky coastline. Renoir’s energetic brushstrokes record the foliage, water, and clouds, all animated by a fresh breeze and brilliant sunlight.

Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	18 1/8 x 21 15/16 in. (46 x 55.7 cm) Frame: 26 3/4 x 30 1/4 x 2 3/4 in. (67.9 x 76.8 x 7 cm)
Object Number	1955.601
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	On View

Image Caption

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, View at Guernsey, 1883, oil on canvas. Clark Art Institute, 1955.601

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. 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.. Guernsey Museum and Art Gallery.. Renoir's Guernsey Paintings. July 9-Sept. 18, 1988.. 1988.. 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 de Kooning, Elaine. "Renoir: as if by Magic." Art News 55 (Oct. 1956) :pp. 43-45, 66-67. 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.. Philip Stevens.. "Turner and Renoir in Guernsey.". Country Life, London.. Nov. 3, 1977.. 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. Kern, Steven, ed. List of Paintings in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1992. Art Exhibitions Australia.. Renoir: Master Impressionist. Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, July 30-Sept. 11, 1994; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Sept. 19-Oct. 30, 1994; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Nov, 6, 1994-Jan. 15, 1995. Cat. by John House. Herbert, Robert L. Seurat and the Making of "La Grande Jatte". The Art Institute of Chicago , June 16- Sept. 19, 2004. The Art Institute of Chicago in association with University of California Press. 2004:p. 41 cat. 110, p. 64 cat. 111. 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.

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EUROPEAN PAINTINGS CATALOGUE ENTRY

Provenance

The artist, sold to Durand-Ruel, before 1891;¹ [Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York, before 1891–1933, sold to Clark, 3 Mar. 1933]; Robert Sterling Clark (1933–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955. 1. Renoir sold four highly finished views of Guernsey to Durand-Ruel soon after his return to Paris. See John House, Renoir 1841–1919: Artists in Guernsey (exh. cat., 1988), pp. 8, 16n12. According to the Durand-Ruel Archives, none of the four seems to be the Clark painting, although the dealer may have acquired the Clark painting in the same period. See correspondence in the Clark curatorial file of 28 Sept. 2011. The painting was reentered as part of Durand-Ruel’s stock on 25 Aug. 1891, indicating that it had been purchased earlier.