Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Sweeper, 1889

摘要

This article marks the centenary of the death of the French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1849-1919). He painted the 65.1 x 46.7 cm oil on canvas La Balayeuse {The Sweeper) in 1889, girting it to his friend the impressionist landscape painter Alfred Sisley. The painting changed hands several times and was last sold at auction in May 2016 for $1085 000 by the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art 1. However, the auction house Christies of New York put the proceeds into trust with a third party for more than 2 years after the sons of a dead art dealer petitioned the court claiming that the painting, along with others, was part of their father's estate; had been sold fraudulently by their stepmother in 1999; and that the proceeds of the sale belonged to them.