European Art and Old Masters

Literature

Jean-Pierre Seurat, L’Impressionnisme dans la Sculpture de Pierre-Auguste Renoir et Richard Guino, Éditions du Palazzo Bandera, Busto Arsizio, 1997, p. 131 (another, smaller, example illustrated).

Note

The work will be accompanied by a copy of a Letter of Authenticity signed by Michel Guino dated January 8, 1990.

In 1913, at age 72, French painter Auguste Renoir’s health was rapidly declining and rheumatoid arthritis greatly limited mobility in his hands. As his abilities waned, the Paris art dealer Ambroise Vollard suggested he try working with a sculptor, in essence, to “be his hands,” and assist with bringing some of his painting ideas to life as three-dimensional sculptural works. Renoir was particularly inspired by watching Aristide Maillol at work, the sculptor who had made a bust of the painter for Vollard in 1907. Maillol’s young student and assistant Richard Guino, a 23 year old Catelan sculptor was a natural choice as Renoir's helper. Renoir and Guino formed a collaboration that spanned four years and many works, with the younger artist joining Renoir at his estate Les Collettes in Cagnes-sur-Mer, in the South of France. Renoir’s health benefited from the warm climate and the two worked well together on Renoir’s projects for a time. Guino went on to have a sculptural career in his own right, certainly gleaning a great deal about form, fullness and sensuality from his work with the older artist.

Grande Maternité, a work individually by Guino, was conceived in 1915, in the middle of his productive collaboration with Renoir. Renoir himself had set out to explore the subject of maternity, enlisting Guino to create a sculpture of Renoir’s wife and first son upon her death. The natural beauty and timelessness of the maternal figure was of interest to both sculptors. Guino approaches the subject with an intersection of the classical and the modern, as his nearly life-sized maternal figure reaches and curves over her playful baby, the two figures meld into one. The movement and expression in the figures’ relation to each other, with toes upturned, baby’s curly hair tousled, exemplify a playfulness and sensuality in Guino’s work, as the artist seems to internalize Renoir’s teachings and expand upon them. The Grande Maternité from the Kay Collection offers a unique opportunity for the collector, as it is the first time this work has been offered at auction.