Meet Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Muse Nini Lopez | Christie's

Why It Matters

The painting’s storied provenance demonstrates how iconic art enhances elite brand equity and fuels auction demand, guiding investors and institutions in valuing provenance‑rich works.

Key Takeaways

• Renoir featured model Nini Lopez in more than twenty 1870s paintings.
• "Femme aux Lilas" remains the largest single‑figure Renoir portrait privately owned.
• Joan Whitney Payson acquired the work in 1929, cementing her collector legacy.
• Lorenda de Roulet inherited the painting, sustaining her family's art philanthropy.
• The portrait illustrates how Impressionist art intertwines with 20th‑century American cultural history.

Summary

The Christie's video spotlights Pierre‑Auguste Renoir’s most celebrated sitter, Nini Lopez, and the 1870s masterpiece “Femme aux Lilas,” now on view for potential buyers.

Lopez, a Montmartre artist’s model, appears in more than twenty of Renoir’s canvases, with “Femme aux Lilas” representing the pinnacle of his Impressionist portraiture and the largest single‑figure work still in private hands. The painting entered the United States in 1929 when Joan Whitney Payson, a pre‑eminent collector, purchased it.

Payson, heir to the Vanderbilt‑Whitney fortune and founder of the Whitney Museum, later co‑founded the New York Mets, becoming the first woman to run a major sports franchise. Her daughter, Lorenda de Roulet, inherited the artwork, preserving the family’s philanthropic and cultural legacy. Renoir’s own words—“The simplest subjects are eternal”—echo through the painting’s enduring appeal.

The piece’s provenance links French Impressionism to American high society, underscoring the cross‑Atlantic value that drives today’s auction market. For collectors, the work offers both artistic prestige and a tangible connection to a lineage of influential patrons.

Original Description

A great muse is hard to find.

For Pierre-Auguste Renoir, that muse was Nini Lopez, an artists' model from Montmartre, who was among the artist’s favourite models between 1874 and 1879 — the height of Renoir’s Impressionist period. Her delicate features appear in more than 20 of his paintings and in various guises, including his iconic 'La Loge' (1874, The Courtauld Institute, London).

In this gallery talk, Head of Research Annabel Matterson and Specialist Emma Boyd take you inside Renoir’s 'La femme aux lilas' (1876–1877), the largest known single-figure painting of Nini remaining in private hands. In this work, Nini is pictured in a moment of peaceful introspection. She clutches a bouquet of lilac, their delicacy and luminosity matched by her own youthful beauty.

In 1929, 'La femme aux lilas' was acquired by Joan Whitney Payson, one of the 20th century's great collectors (as well as co-founder of the New York Mets). After nearly a century in the family's collection, this magnificent Renoir arrives at auction, ready to bring joy to a new owner.

🔗 Discover the story of this exceptional portrait from The Collection of Lorinda Payson de Roulet: https://www.christies.com/lot/pierre-auguste-renoir-1841-1919--6585786?cid=EM_SM_O_YT_Inc_LDP___2426...

🗓️ 20th Century Evening Sale | New York | 18 May