France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries enjoyed an era of political openness, economic affluence, and cultural enlightenment. Society was steeped in the exuberance of this period. At that t.mes , Pierre-Auguste Renoir was known for his ebullient works full of mutable shadows and soft textures—the classic Impressionist style. He wrote about his latest innovation in a letter to his dealer Paul Durand-Ruel: “I have taken up again, never to abandon it, my old style, soft and light of touch.” (J. House, Renoir in the Barnes Foundation, New Haven, 2012, p. 121) During this period, Renoir primarily painted nudes and warm family scenes, and his paintings of women bathing had a particular influence on later artists. La Baigneuse assise (Lot 1042) is a classic work of this period, as Renoir favoured the depiction of full-figured female bodies as symbols of vitality, and it also reflects his intense love of life in his later years. At this year’s spring sale, Replica Shoes ’s is presenting this Renoir with Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita’s three masterful portraits and classic portrait paintings by Le Thi Luu, Le Pho, Mai Trung Thu, Vu Cao Dam, and other Euro-Asian artists. These artists have all explored their own interpretations of portraits of women, drawing on the aesthetic perspectives of both Eastern and Western art.

La Baigneuse assise was painted in 1905. With elegant, feather-soft brushstrokes, Renoir mixed many pink tones, portraying the young woman’s beautiful, smooth skin through these subtle variations. The sweet lustre of youth radiates from the painting. With similarly idealized brushstrokes, the muslin towel that the woman holds and sits upon evokes a sensibility light as the fabric itself. The details of the beautiful spring lake in the background are purposely vague, creating a visual feast that is indistinct yet abundant. In recording momentary flashes of light and shadow, he uses similar methods to Aloès, la cueillette à Cagnes (Lot 1016), another of his works offered in this sale. Interestingly, the body language of the young woman in the painting is more open and casual than in Renoir’s earlier nudes; here, she evinces a composed sense of relaxation. In this piece, Renoir opens up to another possibility: encouraging women to shake off the limitations imposed by the outside world and boldly enjoy the body’s most natural state; avant-garde ideas like this inspired a group of later artists, including Henri Matisse.

When the work was painted, Renoir was already in his 50s and his health had deteriorated. He was in constant torment, but the persistent physical pain did not influence his work. It is no accident that young, healthy, and vital bodies became idealized vessels for his spirit, and his passion for life flowed into his paintings. The softness and light-heartedness in the work stems from life yet transcends it. Overflowing with joy, the work is Renoir’s celebration of life with both detached emotions and primal implications. In 2019, Replica Shoes ’s Hong Kong offered a Renoir work at its spring auctions for the first t.mes ; Jeune fille se poignant (la coiffure) is similar in date and subject matter to La Baigneuse assise, and the former’s sale price of more than HK$20 million established Renoir’s position in the Asian market. In addition to Renoir’s catalogue raisonné, this work was also included in the “Die Sammlung Gangnat” issue of early 20th-century German art magazine Kunst und Künstler: Illustrierte Monatsschrift fur Kunst und Kunstgewerbe.

十九世紀末至二十世紀初期的法國，政治開明、經濟富裕、人性覺醒，整個社會沉浸在美好年代的幸福與喜悅中。此時，雷諾瓦早以其畫中瞬息萬變的光影、幸福洋溢的氛圍和柔軟的視覺觸感著稱畫壇，引領印象派之經典風格，藝術家就自己最新的創作寫信給自己的經紀人杜杭·胡埃：「我再一次回到了自己的原本風格，並不會再次放棄這種柔和輕盈的畫風。」（1988年，引自J·豪斯，《巴恩斯基金會收藏雷諾瓦作品》，紐海文，2012年，121頁）這一時期，雷諾瓦的創作題材以裸女和溫馨的家庭場景為主，其中浴女主題繪畫對於後世之影響蔚為重大，《沐浴的少女》（拍品編號 1042）即為當中經典代表，藝術家將豐腴的肉體視為一種生之意向，敘說其晚年熱烈的生命渴望。蘇富比是次春拍還同時集結了藤田嗣治的三幅肖像佳作，以及樂氏琉、黎譜、梅忠恕、武高談等一眾亞歐藝術家的經典肖像畫，將分別透過東、西方藝術的美學視角，探索全球藝術對於女性肖像的多重解讀。

《沐浴的少女》創作於1905年，藝術家以羽毛般輕柔的飄逸筆觸，糅合多種粉色調，通過細微的變換營造少女如璞玉般溫潤的肌膚，年輕的光澤閃耀畫面，極盡甜美；少女手中和身下的棉布，在同樣理想化筆觸下呈現出薄紗般的輕盈感；背景中湖光春色的勾勒，細節被刻意模糊，營造朦朧而飽滿的視覺盛宴，記錄瞬間的美妙光影，同樣的表現方式在同場另一幅雷諾瓦作品《卡涅蘆薈採摘》（拍品編號1016）中亦可觀得。值得注意的是，本畫中少女的肢體語言較藝術家早期作品中的裸女，表現得更為開放而隨意，顯現出一種不被打擾的輕鬆狀態，可見藝術家此時開啟了對於另一種意義上美好的追求，鼓勵女性不受外界思維的局限，大膽享受身體最自在的狀態，而這種前衛的種觀念啟發了包括馬蒂斯在內的一眾後世藝術家。

本畫創作之時，年逾五十的雷諾瓦健康狀況大不如前，常年受到痛風的折磨，但他的藝術創作並未受其影響，當病痛到極致，健康年輕、充滿活力的肉體成為藝術家的一種理想化的精神寄託，對於生命的渴望反而更加澎湃地投射於畫面，畫面無盡的柔軟和輕盈源於生活卻高於生活，洋溢的喜悅與幸福感，其實是藝術家對於鮮活生命的歌頌、超脫世俗的情緒表達和帶有原始意味的感情宣洩。2019年春季拍賣中，蘇富比首次在香港引入雷諾瓦的作品《梳妝少女》，其年份、主題皆與本畫相近，最終超過兩千萬港幣高價落錘，奠定藝術家的亞洲市場。本畫除雷諾瓦作品全集外，還被收錄於被譽為二十世紀前葉德國最美藝術雜誌的〈藝術和藝術家月刊 - 甘納特收藏〉（1924年）中，饒具歷史意義，實為藏家的不二之選。