Two Sisters (On the Terrace)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919)1881
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Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
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About this work
Pierre-Auguste Renoir considered the Restaurant Fournaise in Chatou (a village along the Seine River) the perfect spot to enjoy nature and good company away from the urban distractions of Paris. His painting Two Sisters (On the Terrace), which he exhibited at the Impressionist exhibition of 1882, is among the last of his paintings set there.
Sometimes, as in his most famous work on this subject, Luncheon of the Boating Party (1882; Phillips Collection, Washington, DC), Renoir used his close friends as models. For Two Sisters, however, despite the title of the painting, he paid unrelated models to create this intimate and perfectly balanced pairing of youth and nature. The older girl, wearing the blue flannel of a female boater’s outfit, sports a luxurious red hat, but it is her younger companion who captivates. Her oversize headdress composed of a floral bouquet is echoed in the brightly colored skeins of yarn in the basket that she gently touches. As was typical for the artist, Renoir painted the faces of his models with controlled and precise brushwork creating a porcelain-like surface that contrasts brilliantly with the diaphanous, impressionist backdrop of river, boats, and blossoming trees just beyond the railing of the terrace.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 100.4 × 80.9 cm (39 1/2 × 31 7/8 in.)
Museum record · 2 owners · 35 exhibitions
Provenance
- The artist (d. 1919); sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, July 7, 1881, for 1,500 francs; transferred to Durand-Ruel, New York, 1922; sold to Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn, Chicago, February 4, 1925, for $100,000.
- Bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.
Exhibitions
- Paris, 251, rue Saint-Honoré, Salons du Panorama de Reischoffen, 7me exposition des artistes independants, Mar. 1–31, 1882, as Les deux soeurs.
- Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition des oeuvres de P.-A. Renoir, Apr. 1–25, 1883, as Femme sur une terrasse (Chatou).
- New York, American Art Galleries, Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionists of Paris, Apr. 10–28, 1886; New York, National Academy of Design, May 25–June 30, 1886, as On the Terrace.
- Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition A. Renoir, May 1892, as La terrasse.
- Appartient à M. J. D. Berlin, Expo, 1895.
- Saint Petersburg, Internationale de la revue “Le monde artiste à St. Petersbourg,” 1899.
- Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition de tableaux de Monet, Pissarro, Renoir & Sisley, Apr. 1899, as Sur la terrasse.
- Brussels, Libre Esthétique, Exposition des peintres impressionnistes, Feb. 25–Mar. 29, 1904, as Sur la terrasse.
- Appartient à M. Durand-Ruel.
- Paris, Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, Salon d’automne, Oct. 15–Nov. 15, 1904, as Sur la terrasse.
- London, Grafton Galleries, Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Exhibited by Messrs. Durand-Ruel & Sons, Jan.–Feb. 1905, as On the Terrace.
- Berlin, Paul Cassirer, Französische Meister, Ferner werke von Max Liebermann, Walter Leistikow, Ulrich Hübner, Constantin Meunier, Mar. 16–mid-June 1906, as Die Terrasse.
- London, Palace of Fine Arts, Franco-British Exhibition, May 14–Oct. 31, 1908, as La terrasse.
- Appartient à M. Durand-Ruel.
- Munich, Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser, Ausstellung Auguste Renoir, mid-Jan.–mid-Feb. 1912, as Sur la terrasse.
- Berlin, Paul Cassirer, VI. Ausstellung, Feb.–Mar. 1912.
- Paris, Manzi, Joyant & Cie, Exposition d’art moderne, June 5–July 6, 1912, as Sur la terrasse.
- Kunsthaus Zurich, Französische Kunst des XIX. u.
- XX. Jahrhunderts, Oct. 5–Nov. 14, 1917, as Sur la terrasse.
- D.-R. Paris, Durand-Ruel, Tableaux, pastels-dessins par Renoir (1841–1919), Nov. 29–Dec. 18, 1920.
- Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, Apr. 6–Oct. 9, 1932.
- Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, May 23–Nov. 1, 1933.
- Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress” Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture for 1934, June 1–Oct. 31, 1934.
- Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, Nov. 1934.
- New York, Durand-Ruel, Views of the Seine by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Jan. 11–30, 1937.
- New Haven, Conn., Yale University Gallery of Fine Arts, French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Feb. 18–Mar. 4, 1937.
- New York, Duveen Galleries, Renoir: Centennial Loan Exhibition, 1841–1941; For the Benefit of the Free French Relief Committee, Nov. 8–Dec. 6, 1941.
- New York, Wildenstein, Renoir: A Loan Exhibition; For the Benefit of the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York City, Inc., Apr. 8–May 10, 1958.
- Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Renoir, Feb. 3–Apr. 1, 1973.
- Tokyo, Seibu Museum of Art, Shikago bijutsukan insho-ha ten, Oct. 18–Dec. 17, 1985; Fukuoka Art Museum, Jan. 5–Feb. 2, 1986; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Mar. 4–Apr. 13, 1986.
- Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection, Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” Sept. 21, 1996–Feb. 23, 1997.
- Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, June 27–Sept. 14, 1997; Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 17, 1997–Jan. 4, 1998; Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, Feb. 8–Apr. 26, 1998.
- Saint Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum, Auguste Renoir, “The Two Sisters (On the Terrace)”: From the Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, July 3–Sept. 16, 2001, no cat. Wuppertal, Germany, Von der Heydt-Museum, Renoir und die Landschaft des Impressionismus, Oct. 28, 2007–Jan. 27, 2008, no cat. no..
- Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, June 29–Nov. 2, 2008.
- Paris, Musée Luxembourg, Inventing Impressionism: Paul Durand-Ruel and the Modern Market, October 9, 2014-February 8, 2015; London, National Gallery, March 4-May 31, 2015; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Inventing Impressionism, June 18-September 13, 2015.
