| Artist Name |
Paul Renouard (1845-1924) |
| Title |
The Sewing Circle |
| Description |
This superb pencil drawing of women in an interior is by noted French artist Charles Paul Renouard circa 1900. Renouard was famous for documenting the lives of ordinary working class people and was much admired by Van Gough. Here, three women are sat around a table in a small sitting room, working on their embroidery. A fourth woman has abandoned her work to warm herself by the fire. The women are smiling as if enjoying their conversation while they work. A young boy sits at the table with them while a cat watches from on top of a chest of draws behind them. The whole scene is bathed in light and shadows from the fire. A lovely intimate drawing of women enjoying each other's company and a piece of social history by a sympathetic observer. |
| Provenance |
From a collection of works by the artist. Family descent. |
| Medium |
Pencil on Paper |
| Size |
15 x 12 inches |
| Frame |
Mounted and housed behind glass, 23 inches by 20 inches and in good condition. |
| Condition |
Good condition. |
| Biography |
French artist (Charles-) Paul Renouard (1845-1924) arrived in London in the 1890's to document the happenings of London society. A society artist if ever there was one, Renouard was fascinated by social types and events. He sketched theater-goers and performers at the Paris Opera and London’s Theater Royal in Drury Lane, publishing a luxury album of etchings—L’Opéra—made in Paris and exhibiting his pen and ink sketches of actors at Paris’ 1877 Salon. Renouard also sketched policemen and defendants at one of London’s many police courts. Above all, however, Renouard was drawn to depicting members of the working class: “perhaps the realm he preferred above all others...was that of the poor and the oppressed, whether it be the working poor...or the scrofulous inhabitants of the bas-fonds.”Renouard’s genuine sympathy for human suffering and frailty is clearly illustrated in his drawings for The Graphic, which present misfortune and poverty not as a novelty but, rather, as a tragedy deserving of the attention of those with the means to remedy it. |
| Price |
SOLD
|
