Auguste Renoir - Charles le Coeur 1874

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From Museum d'Orsay, Paris:
A little-known architect, Charles Le Coeur gave shape under the Third Republic to the policies of Victor Duruy and Jules Ferry, who advocated universal schooling. He elaborated the typology of the lycées (senior high schools) in Paris (Condorcet, Fénelon, Montaigne, Louis-Le-Grand) and outside Paris (Bayonne, Aix-en-Provence, Montluçon). Giving free rein to his taste for polychromy, he also completed numerous spa establishments, for example the apex of his career, the Vichy ensemble, with its casino and theatre. He also worked for private customers from the European political and artistic aristocracy. His story is linked with that of Renoir, who painted his portrait and whose beginnings were encouraged by the Le Coeur family.

Picasso revised the painting a great deal before settling on the final arrangement: he
first depicted Harlequin without ruffs at the neck or cuffs; a large glass stood on the
table where the match striker now appears; Harlequin's bicorne hat originally rested
behind his right hand; and the floral wallpaper was more extensive and not hidden by
the high banquette. - art-Picasso.com

While van Gogh waited for Paul Gauguin to join him in the Provençal
city of Arles in 1888, Vincent van Gogh painted five audaciously
decorative still lifes of sunflowers in simple earthenware jugs. At least
two of these canvases decorated Gauguin's bedroom when he reached
the city late in October, and the French painter came to admire
them greatly. - art-vanGogh.com

art-Renoir.com

Auguste Renoir 1841-1919