For nearly a century, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s *La femme aux lilas (Portrait de Nini Lopez)* has remained within the private orbit of one of America’s most storied collecting dynasties. This May, for the first time in 97 years, the 1876–77 masterpiece will return to the public market at Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale, carrying an estimate of $25 million to $35 million.
The work captures Nini Lopez, a Parisian actress and frequent muse, in a state of soft-focus reverie. With her pale skin and golden hair set against a bouquet of white and pink lilacs, the portrait is an archetype of the Impressionist pursuit of light and ephemeral beauty. Its reappearance marks a rare inflection point for the market, offering a work that has been effectively sequestered from trade since the late 1920s.
The painting’s provenance is inseparable from the legacy of Joan Whitney Payson, who purchased the work for $100,000 in 1929. Whitney Payson—perhaps best known to the public as the founding owner of the New York Mets—was a foundational figure in 20th-century American art patronage. The Renoir remained in the family for decades, eventually passing to her daughter, Lorinda Payson de Roulet. Following de Roulet’s death last November at age 95, the painting is being offered alongside eight other pieces from her estate, signaling the end of a long chapter in the Whitney Payson collection.
With reporting from ARTnews.
Source · ARTnews