About the Artwork
Renoir's finished study of a woman has the quality of a sketch; his rapid brushstrokes describe the play of light across the model's face, arms, and torso. The identity of this sitter remains a mystery.
Woman in an Armchair
1874
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
1841-1919
French
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Oil on canvas
Unframed: 24 × 19 7/8 inches (61 × 50.5 cm) Framed: 35 inches × 29 5/8 inches × 4 inches (88.9 × 75.2 × 10.2 cm)
Paintings
European Modern Art to 1970
Bequest of Mrs. Allan Shelden III
1985.24
Copyright Not Evaluated
Markings
Signed, lower right: Renoir
Provenance
Mr. Lemaire (Paris, France):March 20, 1901, purchased by (Durand-Ruel, Paris, France);
July 7, 1904, purchased by Mr. Van de Velde (Le Havre, France);
Mrs. Paul Guillaume (Paris, France);
Mrs. Jean Walter (Paris, France);
late 1920s, purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Allan Shelden (Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA);
by descent to Mrs. Allan Shelden III (Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, USA);
1985-present, bequest to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Fosca, F. Renoir. New York, 1924, pl. 3.
"The Age of Impressionism and Objective Realism." Art News 38, no. 31 (May 1940): p. 12 (ill.).
Masterpieces of Painting from Detroit Private Collections. Detroit, 1949, no. 26 (ill.). [as Lise, lent anonymously.]
Fosca, F. Renoir. M.I. Martin, trans. New York, 1969, pp. 69, 283 (ill.).
Daulte, F. Auguste Renoir. Vol. 1, Figures 1860-1890. Lausanne, Switzerland, 1971, no. 107 (ill.).
Bulletin of the DIA: Annual Report 62, no. 3 (1986): p. 10 (pl. 6), p. 21.
Masterpieces from The Detroit Institute of Arts. Exh. cat., Bunkamura Museum of Art, 1989, pp. 95, 174, 221, cat. 63 (ill.).
Henshaw, Julia P. A Visitor's Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1995, p. 223 (ill.).
Message 1995. Exh. cat., Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. Toyota, 1995, pp. 40–41, 199, cat. 5 (ill.).
Keyes, George S. "Late Nineteenth-Century French Paintings at the Detroit Institute of Arts." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 77, no. 1/2 (2003): 4–7, p. 7, (fig. 3 ill.).
Beal, Graham W.J. and Debra N. Mancoff. Treasures of the DIA. Detroit, 2007, p. 359, no. 283 (ill.).
Beal, Graham W.J. and Debra N. Mancoff. Treasures of the DIA. Detroit, 2015, pp. 14–15 (ill.).
Eiling, Alexander, ed. Renoir: Rococo Revival. Exh. cat., Städel Museum. Frankfurt am Main, 2022, p. 289, no. 102 (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Woman in an Armchair, 1874, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Mrs. Allan Shelden III, 1985.24.
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