Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “Portrait of the Countess of Pourtalès”

Little is known about the arrangement of artworks in Carl Sachs’s villa; however, the central point of the exhibition was Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s painting “Portrait of Countess Pourtalès.” The painting was mentioned by connoisseurs describing Sachs’s collections, such as Erich Wiesy, the director of the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Breslau.

“The Portrait of Countess Pourtalès” is among the artist’s pinnacle achievements. The pearly light illuminates the face and exposed arms of the model against a darker background, following the best traditions of European portrait painting. Seated against dark red walls, the countess, dressed in a black gown adorned with white embroidery, gazes at the viewer with concentration, gently smiling. The highest praise for this canvas can be found in Karl Scheffler’s article dedicated to Breslau art collections, in which the author compares them to the works of Reynolds and Gainsborough. Scheffler also mentions that this portrait was not accepted by the commissioner and, fortunately for art enthusiasts, found its way into the antiquarian market, ultimately enhancing the Breslau collection. Painted in 1877, the artwork is now housed in the São Paulo Museum of Art, alongside other excellent paintings from the former Breslau collections, such as Édouard Manet’s depiction of Pertuiset lion hunting (formerly in the Max Silberberg collection).

The portrayed Mélanie Countess de Pourtalès hosted a literary salon in Paris. Renoir’s painting was originally intended for her collection. It then made its way to the Barbazanges gallery in Paris and later to the salon of Paul Cassirer in Berlin. Perhaps it was there that Adolf Rothermundt from Dresden acquired it for his collection. No later than 1911, the portrait came into the possession of Carl Sachs. After the war, it found its way into the collection of the São Paulo Museum of Art.

Painting Information:

oil on canvas, dimensions: 94 x 73 cm, current owner: Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo.

Literature: François Daulte, Auguste Renoir: catalogue raisonné de l’oeuvre peint, t. 1: Figures, 1860 – 1890, Lausanne 1971, nr 256.