Ambroise Vollard, Paris
Jeanne & Leotine Vollard, Paris (by descent from the above)
John A. MacAulay, Canada (acquired from the above in 1950)
Thence by descent

Ottawa, The National Gallery of Canada; Toronto, The Art Gallery of Toronto & Montreal, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Paintings from the Vollard Collection, 1950, no. 20
Ottawa, The National Gallery of Canada & The Art Gallery of Toronto, Paintings from the Collection of John A. MacAulay, 1954
Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1956
Ontario, Art Gallery of Ontario, Temporary Loan, 1975

Ambroise Vollard, Tableaux, Pastels & Dessins de Pierre Auguste Renoir, vol. II, Paris, 1918, illustrated p. 94

In very good condition. The canvas is lined. The surface is clean. Under UV light: a small dot of inpainting is visible on the figure's nose just between her eyes. Otherwise fine.
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Looking at Renoir’s intimate pictures of young women, one can readily understand why they were by far the artist’s favorite subject. Using a palette of soft colors he rendered the delicate features and special charm of these girls and young women as they posed for him for hours on end in his studio. The subject of the seated figure had long been a constant in Renoir’s art, since the early days of his career when he exhibited at the Salon. But as he developed his style as one of the leading members of the Impressionist group in the 1870s and 1880s, he began to paint this subject with a sensuality and finesse that became the hallmark of his art. With regard to these paintings, John House has noted that he was able to “combine breadth with extreme delicacy of effect. At times he painted very thinly and with much medium over a white priming, particularly in his backgrounds, allowing the tone and texture of the canvas to show through, and creating effects almost like watercolor. His figures tend to be more thickly painted, but not with single layers of opaque color; instead fine streaks of varied hue are built up, which create a varied, almost vibrating surface” (John House, Renoir (exhibition catalogue), Hayward Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1985-85, p. 278).   

In contrast to Renoir’s formal portraits of Parisian socialites, his pictures of anonymous young women allowed him to take liberties in his manner of execution. As he had no obligations to portray his sitters with a refined demeanor or in the fashionable clothes of the day, the artist was able to concentrate on the natural beauty of these young women. The present work exemplifies the result of this creative freedom.

Portrait de jeune fille was exhibited twice at the National Gallery of Canada, the first time as part of the Vollard collection and the second time as part of🍸 John A. MacAulay's collection. MacAulay a🌳cquired this work from the Vollard collection in 1950, the year the work was first on exhibit at The National Gallery of Canada.