In the Woods|Pierre-Auguste Renoir |Search Collection | The National Museum of Western Art

Updated 18 April 2025

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On Display

Permanent collection

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Limoges, 1841 - Cagnes-sur-Mer, 1919

In the Woods

Date	c. 1880
Materials and Techniques	oil on canvas
Size（cm）	55.8 x 46.3
Inscriptions	Signed lower right: Renoir.
Credit Line	Matsukata Collection
Standard ref.	Fezzi 400; Dauberville 68; M918
Category	Paintings
Collection Number	P.1959-0183

Compared to other Impressionists such as Monet, Sisley and Pissarro, Renoir, who enjoyed painting figures, did not produce many landscapes, In his experiments to capture the bright outdoor light through short, disconnected brush strokes, however, he did create a few outstanding landscapes. Here, with short, almost Pointillistic bruch strokes, he skillfully brings out the green of the forest and the feeling of the surrounding atmosphere. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)

Provenance

Purchased by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe through Léonce Bénédite or by himself, ca. August 1921 (Fr. 4,500) [see letter from Léonce Bénédite to Suzuki & Co., dated 3 August 1921, in the Bibliothèque centrale des musées nationaux, Paris (copy in NMWA curatorial file)]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.

Exhibition History

1958: Paysage de France, Musée de Rouen, 0 1958 - 0 1958, cat. no. 158
1982: Exposition spéciale pour l'ouverture du Musée des Beaux-Arts,Gifu : Paris autour de 1882 : Le Développemėnt de la peinture moderne en France et Hôsui Yamamoto, The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, 3 November 1982 - 19 December 1982, cat. no. 84, repr.
1985: Exposition du Pointillisme (Pointillism), National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 6 April 1985 - 26 May 1985, Musée Municipal d'Art, Kyoto, 4 June - 14 July, cat. no. 48, col, repr.
1987: Saito Toyosaku to Nihon no Tenbyo, The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, 8 August 1987 - 30 September 1987, cat. no. 52, repr.
1988: Renoir Retrospective, Nagoya City Art Museum, 15 October 1988 - 11 December 1988, cat. no. 18, col. repr.
1994: Renoir: Master Impressionist, Queensland Art Gallery, 30 July 1994 - 11 September 1994, National Gallery of Victoria, 18 September-30 October; The Art Gallery of New South Wales, 5 November-15 January 1995, cat. no. 11, col. repr.
1996: The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 34
2004: Paradise Lost: The Politics of Landscape 1870-1945, Yokohama Museum of Art, 9 October 2004 - 12 December 2004, cat. no. 26
2007: Renoir Landscapes 1865-1883, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 8 June 2007 - 9 September 2007, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 4 October 2007-6 Januaruy 2008, cat. no. 41, col. repr.
2008: Corot: Souvenirs et variations, Musée Municipal de Kobe, 13 September 2008 - 31 August 2008, cat. no. 75
2015: NO MUSEUM, NO LIFE?: Art-Museum Encyclopedia to Come: From the Collections of the National Museums of Art, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 16 June 2015 - 13 September 2015, cat. no. L-2
2016: Van Gogh: Into the Undergrowth, Cincinnati Art Museum, 15 October 2016 - 8 January 2017, cat. no. 21, col. repr.
2022: In Dialogue with Nature - from Friedrich, Monet and Van Gogh to Richter, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 4 June 2022 - 11 September 2022, cat. no. 80
2024: Does the Future Sleep Here?: Revisiting the Museum's Response to Contemporary Art after 65 Years, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 12 March 2024 - 12 May 2024

Bibliography

1955: La Collection Matsukata, Tokyo, Asahi- Shimbun, 1955 (Japanese), no. 19, col. repr.
1961: Catalogue du Musée National d'Art Occidental, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1961 (Préface and Catalogue Général in Japanese and French), P-251.
1971: Les cent chefs-d'oeuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1971 (Japanese), no. 68, repr.
1972: Fezzi, Elda. L'opera completa di Renoir, nel periodo impressionista 1869-1883. Milano, 1972, no. 400, repr. (French ver. Tout l'œuvre peint de Renoir : Période Impressionniste 1869-1883. Paris, Flammarion, 1985, Les Classiques de l'art. no. 382, repr. )
1975: Les cent chefs-d'oeuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1975 (Japanese), no. 42, repr.
1978: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1978 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 49, repr.
1979: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of Paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 235, repr.
1982: Paris autour de 1882: Le Développemėnt de la peinture moderne en France et Hôsui Yamamoto: Exposition spéciale pour l'ouverture du Musée des Beaux-Arts,Gifu (exh. cat.). Musée des Beaux-Arts,Gifu, ed. Gifu, Musée des Beaux-Arts,Gifu, 1982, cat. no. 84, repr.
1985: Exposition du pointillisme (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art, ed. [Tokyo], The Asahi Shimbun, 1985, p. 85, cat. no. 48, col. repr.
1987: Saito Toyosaku to Nihon no Tenbyo (exh. cat.). The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, ed. [Urawa], The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, 1987, p. 53, cat. no. 52, repr.
1988: Renoir retrospective (exh. cat.). Nagoya City Art Museum, ed. [Nagoya], The Chunichi Shimbun, [1988], pp. 70-71, 238, cat. no. 18, col. repr.
1990: The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 1261.
1994: Eunos Presents Renoir, Master Impressionist (exh. cat.). House, John. [Brisbane], Queensland Art Gallery, 1994, pp. 72-73, cat. no. 11, col. repr.
2004: Paradise Lost: the Politics of Landscape 1870-1945 (exh.cat.). Kuraishi, Shino; Kashiwagi, Tomoo; Shinbata, Yasuhide, Tokyo, Taishukan Shoten, 2004, pp.25, 205, cat. no. 26, col. repr.
2007: Dauberville, Guy-Patrice; Dauberville, Michel. Renoir: catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins et aquarelles. Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, 2007, vol. 1, p. 152, cat. no. 68
2007: Renoir Landscapes 1865-1883(exh.cat.). Bailey, Colin B. et al., eds. London, National Gallery, 2007, cat. no. 41, col. repr.
2008: Corot: souvenirs et variations(exh.cat.). Jingaoka, Megumi; National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, eds. Tokyo, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 2008, cat. no. 75, col. repr.
2013: MONET, An Eye For Landscapes: Innovation in 19th Century French Landscape Paintings(exh. cat.). Tokyo, TBS, c2013, cat. no. 36, col. repr.
2016: Van Gogh: into the undergrowth (exh. cat.). Homburg, Cornelia; Kelly, Simon; Prins, Laura; Reynaerts, Jenny. Cincinnati, OH, Cincinnati Art Museum in association with D Giles Limited, 2016, pp. 132-133, cat. no. 21, col. repr.
2018: The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 1: Paintings, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2018, cat. no. 918, col. repr.
2021: When Here and Afar Meet: Western Art in Yamagata/Western Art in Takaoka (exh. cat.). Shinfuji, Atsushi, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2021, pp. 156, 184, cat. no. Y3_31| T3_8. col. repr.
2022: In Dialogue with Nature: from Friedrich, Monet and Van Gogh to Richter (exh. cat.). Jingaoka, Megumi; Shinfuji, Atsushi; Yomiuri Shimbun, Museum Exhibition Department, eds. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; Yomiuri Shimbun; NHK; NHK Promotions, 2022, pp. 159, 261, cat. no. 80, col. repr.
2024: Does the Future Sleep Here?: Revisiting the Museum's Response to Contemporary Art after 65 Years (exh. cat.). Shinfuji, Atsushi; Mochizuki, Kaoru, eds. [Tokyo], Culture Convenience Club; Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, 2024, pp. 249, 309, col. repr.

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