The Gust of Wind (Renoir)
| The Gust of Wind | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Year | 1872 |
| Medium | oil paint, canvas |
| Dimensions | 52 cm (20 in) × 82 cm (32 in) |
| Location | Fitzwilliam Museum |
| Accession No. | 2403  |
| Identifiers | Art UK artwork ID: the-gust-of-wind-4800 |
The Gust of Wind (French: Le grand vent), also known as High Wind, is an 1872 oil on canvas painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is part of his Impressionist, plein air landscape study series of the 1870s, still in the ébauche stage of development.[1] It is held by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, UK.
Background
[edit]The painting is believed to have been made at some point during the summer period of 1872-1873 when Renoir painted together with his friend Claude Monet.[2] There is continuing debate and discussion about the exact time and place when and where Renoir completed the painting. The current assumption that it was painted in 1872 near a hill in Saint-Cloud is disputed. After the Storm (1872), a related painting with a similar theme, may have been completed at the same time and place.[3]
Description
[edit]A gust of wind blows through the grass and the trees. Above the hillside, white clouds float through the blue sky.[4]
Analysis
[edit]Renoir makes use of competing warm and cool contrasting colors,[1] bringing a sense of movement and dynamism to the static canvas with his blurry brushstrokes.[4] The Impressionists approached the theme of the seasons and the elements differently than their predecessors, breaking out of academic expectations related to pattern and form. Renoir treats the wind here as an ordinary visual effect instead of as an allegory, with aspects of modern, urban life breaking through in the form of a house on the right side of the painting.[5]
Provenance
[edit]Renoir, along with Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, and Alfred Sisley, organized two major Impressionist auctions in the late 1870s, one in 1875 and another in 1877. The first auction featured at least six of Renoir's landscapes, while the second featured only two. The first auction was held in Paris at the Hôtel Drouot, on March 24, 1875, where Renoir listed the painting in the catalog under the title Grand Vent (Paysage). It was purchased for 55 francs by artist Auguste de Moulins. His family sold it to Paul Durand-Ruel in 1899. It was later bought by Alphonse Kahn in 1908. Frank Hindley Smith purchased it from L.H. Lefèvre and Son in 1923, later bequeathing it to the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1939.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Callen, Anthea (2000). The Art of Impressionism: Painting Technique & the Making of Modernity. Yale University Press. pp. 78-9, 165, 168. ISBN 9780300084023. OCLC 45438124.
- ^ Eitner, Lorenz (2021). An Outline Of 19th Century European Painting. Routledge. ISBN 9780429708916. OCLC 1287759207.
- ^ a b Bailey, Colin (2007). Renoir Landscapes: 1865-1883. London: National Gallery. pp. 14, 116-118. ISBN 9781857093223. OCLC 1151167438.
- ^ a b Beckett, W., & Wright, P. (1999). Sister Wendy’s 1000 masterpieces (1st American edition). DK Publishing. p. 386. ISBN 9780789446039. OCLC 40907651.
- ^ House, John (2004). Impressionism: Paint and Politics. Yale University Press. pp. 88-89. ISBN 9780300102406. OCLC 1035604750.
External links
[edit]- The Gust of Wind at the Fitzwilliam Museum.