Two Sisters (On the Terrace)

CC0 Public Domain Designation

1881

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919)

“He loves everything that is joyous, brilliant, and consoling in life,” an anonymous interviewer once wrote about Pierre-Auguste Renoir. This may explain why Two Sisters (On the Terrace) is one of the most popular paintings in the Art Institute. Here Renoir depicted the radiance of lovely young women on a warm and beautiful day. The older girl, wearing the female boater’s blue ﬂannel, is posed in the center of the evocative landscape backdrop of Chatou, a suburban town where the artist spent much of the spring of 1881. She gazes absently beyond her younger companion, who seems, in a charming visual conceit, to have just dashed into the picture. Technically, the painting is a tour de force: Renoir juxtaposed solid, almost life-size figures against a landscape that—like a stage set—seems a realm of pure vision and fantasy. The sewing basket in the left foreground evokes a palette, holding the bright, pure pigments that the artist mixed, diluted, and altered to create the rest of the painting. Although the girls were not actually sisters, Renoir’s dealer showed the work with this title, along with Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando and others, at the seventh Impressionist exhibition, in 1882.

Status: On View, Gallery 201
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Title: Two Sisters (On the Terrace)
Place: France (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1881
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Inscribed lower right: Renoir '81
Dimensions: 100.4 × 80.9 cm (39 1/2 × 31 7/8 in.); Framed: 119.1 × 100.1 × 7.7 cm (46 7/8 × 39 3/8 × 3 in.)
Credit Line: Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection
Reference Number: 1933.455
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/14655/manifest.json

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Richard R. Brettell and Joachim Pissarro, Manet to Matisse: Impressionist Masters from the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection, exh. cat. (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art/University of Washington Press, 2007), pp. 97; 98, fig. 33.
Colin B. Bailey, “Rowers at Chatou, 1880–1,” in Renoir Landscapes, 1865–1883, ed. Colin B. Bailey and Christopher Riopelle, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London, 2007), pp. 212, fig. 102; 214. Translated by Marie-Françoise Dispa, Lise-Éliane Pomier, and Laura Meijer as Colin B. Bailey, “Les canotiers à Chatou, 1880–1881,” in Les paysages de Renoir 1865–1883, ed. Colin B. Bailey and Christopher Riopelle), exh. cat. (National Gallery, London/5 Continents, 2007), pp. 212, fig. 102; 214.
Colin B. Bailey, “‘The Greatest Luminosity, Colour and Harmony’: Renoir’s Landscapes, 1862–1883,” in Renoir Landscapes, 1865–1883, ed. Colin B. Bailey and Christopher Riopelle, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London, 2007), pp. 65, 70. Translated as Colin B. Bailey, “‘Un maximum de luminosité; de coloration, et d’harmonie’: Les paysages de Renoir, 1862–1883,” in Les paysages de Renoir 1865–1883, ed. Colin B. Bailey and Christopher Riopelle, trans. Marie-Françoise Dispa, Lise-Éliane Pomier, and Laura Meijer, exh. cat. (National Gallery, London/5 Continents, 2007), pp. 65, 70.
Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, with the collaboration of Camille Frémontier-Murphy, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles, vol. 1, 1858–1881 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2007), pp. 299–300, cat. 254 (ill.).
Peter Kropmanns, “Renoir und der Impressionismus,” in Auguste Renoir und die Landschaft des Impressionismus, ed. Gerhard Finckh, exh. cat. (Von der Heydt-Museum, 2007), pp. 74–75 (ill.).
Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Kimbell Art Museum, 2008), pp. 10 (detail); 24 (ill.); 74–75, cat. 28 (ill.). Simultaneously published as Gloria Groom and Douglas Druick, with the assistance of Dorota Chudzicka and Jill Shaw, The Age of Impressionism at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2008), pp. 10 (detail); 24 (ill.); 74–75, cat. 28 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, The Essential Guide (Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), p. 218 (ill.).
Anne Distel, Renoir (Citadelles & Mazenod, 2009), pp. 194; 195, ill. 181; 239.
Art Institute of Chicago, Master Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago, selected by James Cuno (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2009), p. 59 (ill.).
Adrien Goetz, Comment Regarder … Renoir (Hazan, 2009), p. 135 (ill.).
Marie-Christine Decrooq, “Monet und Durand-Ruel: Die Finanzkrise und die 7. Impressionisten-Ausstellung im Licht ihrer Korrespondenz (Januar bis März 1882) aus dem Archiv Cornebois,” in Claude Monet, ed. Gerhard Finckh, exh. cat. (von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal, 2009), p. 59 (ill.).
Sylvie Patry, “Renoir, Revolutionary and Classical,” in Sounjou Seo, Renoir: Promise of Happiness, exh. cat. (Seoul Museum of Art, 2009), p. 30, fig. 7.
Caroline Durand-Ruel Godfroy, “Paul Durand-Ruel and Renoir: 47 Years of Friendship,” in Sounjou Seo, Renoir: Promise of Happiness, exh. cat. (Seoul Museum of Art, 2009), pp. 158; 161; 166, n. 13; 167, n. 47; 275; 276; 279, n. 13 and n. 47.
Greg M. Thomas, Impressionist Children: Childhood, Family, and Modern Identity in French Art (Yale University Press, 2010), pp. 50; 51, fig. 56.
Caroline Homes, Impressionists in Their Garden (Antique Collectors’ Club, 2012), pp. 132–33 (ill.).
Debra N. Mancoff, Fashion in Impressionist Paris (Merrell, 2012), pp. 138–39 (ill.), 149.
Bernhard Echte and Walter Feilchenfeldt, eds., with assistance by Petra Cordioli, Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer: Die Ausstellungen 1905–1908 (Nimbus. Kunst und Bücher, 2013), pp. 208 (ill.), 213, 803.
“Cat. 11: Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881” in Renoir Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, ed. Gloria Groom and Jill Shaw (Art Institute of Chicago, 2014), https://publications.artic.edu/renoir/reader/paintingsanddrawings/section/138973.
Sylvie Patry, ed., Inventing Impressionism: Paul Durand-Ruel and the Modern Market (London: National Gallery Company, 2015), 144-45 fig. 95, 266 cat. 75
Eliza E. Rathbone, ed., Renoir and Friends: Luncheon of the Boating Party, exh. cat. (The Phillips Collection/ D Giles Limited, 2017), p. 113-115, Fig. 47.

Paris, 251, rue Saint-Honoré, Salons du Panorama de Reischoffen, 7me exposition des artistes independants [seventh Impressionist exhibition], Mar. 1–31, 1882, cat. 138, as Les deux soeurs.
Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition des oeuvres de P.-A. Renoir, Apr. 1–25, 1883, cat. 30, as Femme sur une terrasse (Chatou).
New York, American Art Galleries, Works in Oil and Pastel by the Impressionists of Paris, Apr. 10–28, 1886, cat. 181; New York, National Academy of Design, May 25–June 30, 1886, as On the Terrace.
Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition A. Renoir, May 1892, cat. 92, as La terrasse. Appartient à M. J. D.
Berlin, Expo, 1895.
Saint Petersburg, Internationale de la revue “Le monde artiste à St. Petersbourg,” 1899.
Paris, Durand-Ruel, Exposition de tableaux de Monet, Pissarro, Renoir & Sisley, Apr. 1899, cat. 81, as Sur la terrasse. 1881.
Brussels, Libre Esthétique, Exposition des peintres impressionnistes, Feb. 25–Mar. 29, 1904, cat. 130, as Sur la terrasse. Appartient à M. Durand-Ruel.
Paris, Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées, Salon d’automne, Oct. 15–Nov. 15, 1904, cat. 12, as Sur la terrasse.
London, Grafton Galleries, Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Exhibited by Messrs. Durand-Ruel & Sons, Jan.–Feb. 1905, cat. 239, as On the Terrace. 1881.
Berlin, Paul Cassirer, Französische Meister, Ferner werke von Max Liebermann, Walter Leistikow, Ulrich Hübner, Constantin Meunier, Mar. 16–mid-June 1906, cat. 30, as Die Terrasse.
London, Palace of Fine Arts, Franco-British Exhibition, May 14–Oct. 31, 1908, cat. 397, as La terrasse. Appartient à M. Durand-Ruel.
Munich, Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser, Ausstellung Auguste Renoir, mid-Jan.–mid-Feb. 1912, cat. 9, as Sur la terrasse. 1881.
Berlin, Paul Cassirer, VI. Ausstellung, Feb.–Mar. 1912, cat. 9.
Paris, Manzi, Joyant & Cie, Exposition d’art moderne, June 5–July 6, 1912, cat. 180, as Sur la terrasse.
Kunsthaus Zurich, Französische Kunst des XIX. u. XX. Jahrhunderts, Oct. 5–Nov. 14, 1917, cat. 169, as Sur la terrasse. Coll. D.-R.
Paris, Durand-Ruel, Tableaux, pastels-dessins par Renoir (1841–1919), Nov. 29–Dec. 18, 1920, cat. 52.
Art Institute of Chicago, Exhibition of the Mrs. L. L. Coburn Collection: Modern Paintings and Watercolors, Apr. 6–Oct. 9, 1932, cat. 33 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress”: Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, May 23–Nov. 1, 1933, cat. 348.
Art Institute of Chicago, “A Century of Progress” Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture for 1934, June 1–Oct. 31, 1934, cat. 237.
Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art, French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, Nov. 1934, cat. 15.
New York, Durand-Ruel, Views of the Seine by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Jan. 11–30, 1937, cat. 6 (ill.).
New Haven, Conn., Yale University Gallery of Fine Arts, French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Feb. 18–Mar. 4, 1937, cat. 1.
New York, Duveen Galleries, Renoir: Centennial Loan Exhibition, 1841–1941; For the Benefit of the Free French Relief Committee, Nov. 8–Dec. 6, 1941, cat. 35 (ill.).
New York, Wildenstein, Renoir: A Loan Exhibition; For the Benefit of the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York City, Inc., Apr. 8–May 10, 1958, no. 31 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings by Renoir, Feb. 3–Apr. 1, 1973, cat. 34 (ill.).
Tokyo, Seibu Museum of Art, Shikago bijutsukan insho-ha ten [The Impressionist tradition: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago], Oct. 18–Dec. 17, 1985, cat. 35 (ill.); Fukuoka Art Museum, Jan. 5–Feb. 2, 1986; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Mar. 4–Apr. 13, 1986.
Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection, Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” Sept. 21, 1996–Feb. 23, 1997, cat. 58 (ill.).
Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada, Renoir’s Portraits: Impressions of an Age, June 27–Sept. 14, 1997, cat. 40 (ill.); Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 17, 1997–Jan. 4, 1998; Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, Feb. 8–Apr. 26, 1998.
Saint Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum, Auguste Renoir, “The Two Sisters (On the Terrace)”: From the Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, July 3–Sept. 16, 2001, no cat.
Wuppertal, Germany, Von der Heydt-Museum, Renoir und die Landschaft des Impressionismus, Oct. 28, 2007–Jan. 27, 2008, no cat. no. (ill.).
Fort Worth, Tex., Kimbell Art Museum, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, June 29–Nov. 2, 2008, cat. 28 (ill.).
Paris, Musée Luxembourg, Inventing Impressionism: Paul Durand-Ruel and the Modern Market, October 9, 2014-February 8, 2015, cat. 75; London, National Gallery, March 4-May 31, 2015; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Inventing Impressionism, June 18-September 13, 2015.

The artist (d. 1919); sold to Durand-Ruel, Paris, July 7, 1881, for 1,500 francs [per Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock book for 1880–82 (no. 1451, as Femme sur une terrasse au bord de la Seine), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]; transferred to Durand-Ruel, New York, 1922 [per Durand-Ruel, New York, stock book for 1904–24 (no. 8124, as Sur la terrasse), as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file]; sold to Mrs. Lewis Larned (Annie Swan) Coburn, Chicago, February 4, 1925, for $100,000 [per Durand-Ruel Archives, as confirmed by Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel and Flavie Durand-Ruel, Durand-Ruel Archives, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 5, 2010, curatorial object file; see also a letter on Durand-Ruel letterhead, Mar. 18, 1932, verifying that Coburn purchased the painting from Durand-Ruel, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago]; Bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1933.

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