Un Jardin à Sorrente was painted during Renoir’s tour of Italy in 1881. After visiting Venice, he ventured south to Naples, where he painted numeours views inspired by the surrounding landscape. Though Renoir intended to study the paintings of the Italian Renaissance in Italy, he was quickly seduced by the unique quality of light that blanketed the city.
Christopher Riopelle writes:
‘Like Algiers earlier in the year, where brilliant sunlight and the city’s proximity to the sea dazzled him, at Naples Renoir was struck by the gradations of the light and by the city’s imposing location on a sweeping bay overlooking the Mediterranean. Towering over the scene was the distinctive profile of Vesuvius, universal symbol of nature’s force’
In the present work, Renoir uses the distinctive parallel brushstrokes that he developed in the works of this period to evoke the soft light and tonal harmonies of the Mediterranean landscape, focusing on capturing the atmosphere of the place. The composition is distinct from others that date from this period. Rather than depicting the celebrated canals and palazzos of Venice or the bustling port of Naples, Renoir creates a pastoral idyll that seems inspired by Italy’s classical past, with the topographical detail of Mount Vesuvius in the background. This may in part have been inspired by his experience of seeing Raphael’s frescoes in the Villa Farnesina in Rome and the murals of Pompeii and Herculaneum, but it also calls to mind a later generation of classical painters.
Writing to Madame Charpentier in 1882, Renoir described the effects of this Italian sojourn:
‘I studied the museum in Naples a lot, the paintings from Pompeii are extremely interesting from all points of view, and so I stay in the sun, not to do portraits in broad daylight, but by warming up and doing a lot of looking, I will, I think, have gained that grandeur and simplicity of the ancient painters. Raphael, who didn’t work outdoors, had nevertheless studied sunlight since his frescoes are full of it. Thus having seen the outdoors so much, I ended up seeing only the great harmonies without caring any more about small details that extinguish sunlight instead of making it blaze’
The work once belonged to the American hotelier and art collects or Arnold Kirkeby. Amassed largely during the 1940s and 1950s, Kirkeby’s collects ion was expansive, including works by modern masters such as Picasso and Modigliani as well as Impressionist and Post-Impressionist oils by Pissarro, Signac and Vlaminck. Jardin à Sorrente was among a number of paintings sold in a feted auction at Parke-Bernet in 1958. One of the most significant auctions of the period, the sale attracted huge media and public attention, with over 10,000 people viewing the pre-sale exhibition.
《索倫托的花園》繪於1881年，當時雷諾瓦正環遊意大利。到訪威尼斯後，雷諾瓦南行至那不勒斯，在當地繪畫了啟發自四周地貌的系列作品。
雷諾瓦原打算在意大利研學文藝復興時期畫作，但他很快被那不勒斯獨特的地中海氣候及光線所吸引。在本作中，雷諾瓦使用他在這時期發展出的獨特平行筆觸，著重捕捉當地景觀的氛圍，以呈現出地中海風景裡柔和的光線與和諧的色調。
《索倫托的花園》的主題與藝術家同期其他作品不同。藝術家此時期的作品主題普遍是威尼斯著名的運河和宮殿，或是那不勒斯繁忙的港口；然而，雷諾瓦或是受到意大利的古典藝術啟發，他以田園牧歌的景色為主題，並在背景描繪維蘇威火山。 顯赫來源：本作曾為美國酒店大亨兼藝術收藏家阿諾德・柯克比(Arnold Kirkeby)的私人珍藏。柯克比在1940至1950年代收藏不少佳作，包括畢加索及莫迪里安尼等現代藝術大師之作，及畢沙羅、席涅克及弗拉芒克等人的印象派及後印象派油畫。《索倫托的花園》是1958年在帕克-伯內畫廊一次備受觸目的拍賣會上所出售的眾多畫作之一。這是當時最備受關注的拍賣會之一，吸引了大量傳媒及公眾關注，逾一萬人參觀過拍賣前的預展。