For the first time in nearly a century, Pierre-Auguste Renoir's masterpiece La femme aux lilas (Portrait de Nini Lopez) is set to be auctioned, with an estimated value between $25 million and $35 million. This significant event will take place during Christie's 20th Century Evening Sale on May 18.
Created between 1876 and 1877, the painting portrays Nini Lopez, a young actress from Paris, depicted with golden hair, fair skin, and rosy cheeks, as she gazes thoughtfully into the distance while holding a bouquet of flowers.
This artwork boasts a remarkable history, having been in the possession of the Whitney Payson family since 1929. Max Carter, Christie's global chairman of 20th- and 21st-century art, referred to this family as "one of the greatest, if not the greatest, American collecting family over the 20th century."
The painting was initially acquired for $100,000 by Joan Whitney Payson and her husband, Charles Payson. Joan was instrumental in establishing a renowned collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art and is also recognized for founding the New York Mets baseball team. Her collection is now permanently housed at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine.
Upon Joan's passing, the painting was inherited by her daughter, Lorinda Payson de Roulet, who recently passed away at the age of 95. During the upcoming auction, Christie's will also feature nine additional pieces from de Roulet's impressive art collection.
The family's legacy in art collecting extends further, with Joan's aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, being the founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art, highlighting the family's deep-rooted connection to the art world.
Interestingly, another Renoir painting from the same era, purchased in 1929 by family member John Hay Whitney, holds the artist's auction record. This work, Au Moulin de la Galette, sold for an astonishing $78.1 million at Sotheby's New York in 1990, a record that remains unbroken.
Christie's has characterized La femme aux lilas as "the most important Renoir to come to market in decades," yet it is anticipated that it may not surpass Renoir's previous auction records.
