Viewing page 82 of 170

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Dear Mr. Winthrop, 

I am taking the liberty of writing you these few lines referring to your kind visit this morning.

Now, I know that it is quite needless for me to dwell on the RENOIR portrait, because I realize that you fully appreciate all its merits yourself. You may be interested to know, however, that RENOIR painted only about eleven portraits of men, as besides this one, he painted portraits of the following well-known people:

Claude Monet, Sisley, Cesar, Theodore de Banville, Richard Wagner, Durand-Ruel, M. Gangnet, the famous collector, Ambroise Vollard, Mr. Muhlfeld, and a self portrait.

None of them, however, has the amazing quality nor the extraordinary composition that this "big" little portrait has. It is undoubtedly the greatest portrait painted by any artist, not only of the Impressionist School, but of the entire 19th century. It embodies all the superlative qualities of the Impressionist painters and also of the great portrait painters of the past, and although I have shown you a number of very important things during the last few years, I can safely say I have never had the opportunity of showing you anything that can be compared to this, and that is why I can not too strongly urge you to seriously consider it, as