Portrait d'Ambroise Vollard - Marchand de l'Art de Renoir. Portrait of Ambroise Vollard - Renoir's Art Dealer. by Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1841-1919

Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1841-1919
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Portrait d'Ambroise Vollard - Marchand de l'Art de Renoir. Portrait of Ambroise Vollard - Renoir's Art Dealer.

Original chalk-drawn lithograph in black ink. 1904. Signed with the signature in the stone. From the only issued edition. Edition originally planned as 950 impressions on wove paper, plus 50 on japan, but approx. 1/3 of edition never issued. Printed at the studio of Clot, Paris c.1905. First offered for sale by Vollard in 1919 in the series: Douze Lithographies Originales.
Ref: Delteil/Stella - Renoir L?Oeuvre Gravé no 37

Excellent contrasty impression. On soft cream/white wove paper. Excellent original condition; not restored. Full margins. Sheet: 13 x 9 7/8ins.

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Ambroise Vollard, who was Renoir?s principal dealer, was also the most influential figure in the whole revival of the art of lithography as a major creative medium in the years from 1885 to 1910 in France. With his albums of lithographs by artists like Bonnard and Vuillard, and with his mixed print albums, he was the major force in encouraging the leading artists of the period to work in lithography. Vollard greatly encouraged Renoir?s interest in the medium, and this portrait is an acknowledgement of Renoir?s admiration for him.

The portrait was issued as a part of the series of 12 lithographs that Vollard commissioned from Renoir in 1904. It is revealing that in drawing the portrait Renoir reverted to the style f tighter controlled chalk lines, with very carefully modulated light, that he had used in his earlier period. It is a beautifully conceived and executed study, a real masterwork of impressionist drawing in the medium of lithography.