“Drawing” Connections: Renoir’s Possible Inspirations for Apollo and Daphne and Standing Female Nude

By Julia Widing, McGill Visual Arts Collection Student Assistant, 2024

In 2017, the McGill Visual Arts Collection acquired something special from donor Katherine Smalley: a page from the sketchbook of a young Auguste Pierre Renoir (1841-1919). Renoir, famous for leading the Parisian Impressionist movement, kept many sketchbooks documenting his artistic development. This double-sided graphite sketch, Apollo and Daphne and Standing Female Nude (Fig. 1) was published by Paul Renoir – the artist’s grandson – and Stefano Pirra in 125 dessins inédits de Pierre Auguste Renoir (1971).

Although many copies of the sketchbook have been produced, the drawing that Katherine Smalley donated to the McGill Visual Arts Collection is from the original sketchbook.  One can imagine Renoir when he was a young apprentice, painting porcelain at the ceramic manufacturer Levy-Frères, toting along his sketchbook to practice his craft at the museums of Paris, gathering inspiration from the masterworks hanging on their walls.

Based on information gathered from former Visual Arts Collection Assistant Curator Vanessa Di Francesco, it seems possible that Renoir could have found his inspiration for Apollo and Daphne from Simon Vouet’s Allegory of Wealth (1640) (Fig. 2).[1] On the silver Greek amphora depicted in the painting’s lefthand corner, Vouet illustrates the tale of Apollo and Daphne (Fig. 3). Similar to what is painted in Vouet’s Allegory of Wealth, Renoir’s Apollo and Daphne represents the two characters, in movement, contained within a set space. Daphne’s arms are outstretched as Apollo trails behind her. Although the two characters in each respective piece are not exact replicas, it is very possible that Vouet’s painting or others in the Louvre inspired Renoir. This is especially possible considering how Renoir was reported as a copyist at the Louvre in 1860.[2] Evidently, he actively used the museum’s collection to practice his craft.

But what of the sketch on the verso? Is it possible that Renoir found inspiration for Standing Female Nude at the Musée du Luxembourg? Specifically, from Théodore Chassériau’s Le Tepidarium (1853) (Fig. 4).[3] In Chassériau’s painting, the central figure is a half-nude woman draped in a sash, her arms lazily uplifted. Renoir’s sketch, another movement composition, shows a woman drawn vertically and turned at a three-quarter angle to face the spectator. Leaning slightly backward, her right arm is at her side. Her hips swing outwardly on the same plain as her left arm, which is lifted upward toward the back. Although it is difficult to see due to Renoir’s faint pencil marks, a sash is draped across her forearms and pelvis. There is no evidence yet of Renoir’s registration as a copyist at the Musée du Luxembourg, but the institution acquired Le Tepidarium into its collection in 1853. So, it is possible that Renoir could have visited and found inspiration in Chessériau’s piece.

Before becoming a genre-defining artist, Renoir had to practice. A lot. This means he had many sketchbooks, not just those published by his grandson, Paul and Stefano Pirra. Outside the Visual Arts Collection, you can find Renoir’s sketches at the National Gallery of Canada and other institutions. There is even one up for auction at Christie’s China.[4] Like Renoir, you can practice sketching and find inspiration here at the Visual Arts Collection, especially when visiting our Visible Storage Gallery.

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[1] McGill University ROAAr, Many Women, Many Voices; Stories from McGill Collections, ed. Nathalie Cooke, Frédéric Giuliano, Christopher Lyons, Gwendolyn Owens, Jacquelyn Sundberg and Mary Yearl (McGill University Library and Archives, 2018).

[2] John Collins, “Youthful Aspirations: Pages from an Early Renoir Sketchbook,” Vernissage, Spring 2008, 21.

[3] Although Le Tepidarium currently belongs to the Musée D’Orsay, at the time Renoir would have seen it between 1853 & 1874, it belonged to the Musée du Luxembourg. For more information, see the Musée d’Orsay’s provenance notes here.

[4] “Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Portrait de Coco,” Christie’s China, accessed November 27, 2024, https://www.christies.com/zh/lot/lot-5136734?&lid=1&sc_lang=en.

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