A previously unknown masterpiece by Auguste Renoir titled "The Child and His Toys" sold for 1.8 million euros (approximately $1.9 million) including fees at the prestigious Hôtel Drouot auction house in Paris on Tuesday. The painting, which depicts the artist's son, future filmmaker Jean Renoir, with his nanny, was acquired by an international buyer after exceeding its pre-sale estimate of 1 to 1.5 million euros.
The remarkable oil painting had never been exhibited publicly or sold at auction before, having remained in private hands since Renoir gifted it to his friend and only student, Jeanne Baudot. Art historian and Renoir specialist Pascal Perrin described the work as representing "everything one could possibly want in a Renoir," highlighting its exceptional condition with no restoration needed.
Created before 1910, the painting shows Renoir's young second son Jean – who would later become the acclaimed director of "The Grand Illusion" and "A Day in the Country" – sitting on the lap of his nanny Gabrielle Renard while playing with toy figures of people and animals. The intimate domestic scene captures what Perrin calls "the artist's love for intimate scenes, the representation of a child, of a stolen moment during an afternoon in the heart of his own family."
This version is one of three that Renoir painted of the same scene, with the other two housed in prestigious institutions: the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris. However, this particular canvas had remained in the private sphere since its creation, making it what auctioneer Christophe Joron-Derem called "a masterpiece unknown until now to specialists, the public, and the art market."
The painting's provenance traces a fascinating path through history. Jeanne Baudot, who was also Jean Renoir's godmother, kept the work until her death in 1957. She then bequeathed it to Jean Griot, the son of her governess whom she considered her own child. Griot was a resistance fighter who served in General de Gaulle's cabinet during World War II and later directed the newspaper Le Figaro in the 1970s. After Griot's death in 2011, the painting was preserved by his heirs.
Renoir painted dozens of portraits of his children throughout his career, often featuring Gabrielle Renard, who cared for them for about twenty years. The nanny became one of the artist's favorite models, appearing in nearly 200 of his works. Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was known for his mastery of capturing intimate family moments, and this work exemplifies his skill during his mature period as an artist.
