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Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Young Shepherd in Repose (Portrait of Alexander Thurneyssen), 1911

Description

Maker

  • Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1841-1919, French

Title

Young Shepherd in Repose (Portrait of Alexander Thurneyssen)

Year

1911

Medium

Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • oil paint

Supports

  • canvas

Dimensions

73 x 91.1 cm (28 3/4 x 35 7/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed and dated LR:Renoir. 1911

Place

France

Type

  • Paintings

Credit

Museum Works of Art Fund

Object Number

45.199

About

In the last of four family portraits commissioned by a wealthy German industrialist, Renoir depicted his patron’s twelve-year old son, Alexander Thurneyssen, as a young shepherd reclining in a field of flowers. Dressed in a sheepskin tunic, his auburn curls covered by a straw hat, he holds a musical pipe in one hand and invites songbirds to perch on the other. His pose was loosely adapted from that of the Greek god Dionysius on the Parthenon frieze, an indication of Renoir’s lasting fascination for classical sculpture. Both figure and landscape are warmed by a luxuriant, rosy palette and are painted with fluid strokes applied in thin layers. Although Alexander visited Renoir’s Paris studio for the initial sittings, it is thought that the artist’s cook, Gabrielle, also served as a model for the portrait

Signed and dated LR:Renoir. 1911

France
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Projects & Publications

Publications

Exchange Exhibition, Exhibition Exchange

From the Collection of Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University; From the Collection of The Museum of Art, Rhode

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Stranger Than Paradise

July 14, 2017 - February 25, 2018

In this painting, Renoir depicts Alexander Thurneyssen—the 12-year-old son of a wealthy German industrialist patron—as a young shepherd reclining in a field of flowers. Both the figure and landscape are rendered in a luxuriant, rosy palette using fluid strokes applied in thin layers. Thurneyssen’s languid pose, loosely adapted from that of the Greek god Dionysus on the Parthenon frieze, indicates Renoir’s fascination with classical sculpture. As such, the work departs from the emphasis on modern everyday life typically found in Impressionist painting, and anticipates the return to ancient styles and forms in the work of other modern artists in the early 1900s.

From Bastille to Beaubourg

July 7 - August 26, 1989

Masterpieces from the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

July 18 - September 14, 1979

Exchange Exhibition of Paintings from Rose Museum, Brandeis University

February 16 - April 2, 1967

French Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries

November 1, 1942

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Young Shepherd in Repose (Portrait of Alexander Thurneyssen) with the accession number of 45.199. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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