Two Generations of Renoir: Pierre-Auguste and ... - Galerie Michael

A counterproof is created when a damp sheet of paper is
placed over a chalk or pastel drawing and pressure is applied
by hand-rubbing. The hazier, impressionistic appearance of
the resulting counterproof can be precisely the result that
the artist was seeking. However, the artists can retouch the
counterproof with additional lines or shading, should it need
rejuvenation, so that the counterproof—the same image in
reverse—can be made faithful to the original drawing.
This process was employed extensively in the 18th century by
such artists as François Boucher and Jean-Honoré Fragonard,
who used it to make multiples of their chalk drawings. In the
late 19th century the fresh and airy hues of pastel appealed
to Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
These artists produced an important oeuvre in pastels and
their counterproofs. While Degas’s counterproofs have been
known and cherished for almost a century, Renoir’s, commissioned
by his dealer Ambroise Vollard, remained unsold
and virtually unknown until recent years. Some 30 of them
surfaced in the Estate of Henri M. Petiet, the legendary Paris
dealer who bought them from Vollard in 1939 and kept them
out of sight in a drawer until his death in 1980.
Baigneuse s’essuyant, c. 1900
Pastel counterproof on tissue-thin Japan
paper mounted on sturdy wove paper.
Counterproof monogram lower left.
Provenance: Ambroise Vollard, the artist’s dealer; the Estate of
Henri M. Petiet, Paris.
Vollard 1226. #401914
22 1/2 x 18 3/8”
RENOIR, Pierre-Auguste, 1841-1919
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