French School, 20th century, Three Brothers

French School, 20th Century Three Brothers Pastel on paper, 77 x 108 cm Framed, 101 x 134 cm Signed and dated lower right "Ducreux 1903" The pastel in question depicts three children around a table, engrossed in playing cards. In the center, a girl with long red hair and a white bow wears a light dress with an elegant floral decoration at the chest. To her left, a red-haired boy, dressed in a dark suit and an elaborate lace collar, looks at her in profile. To her right, another auburn-haired boy, in a dark suit and a light collar, looks towards the viewer with a slight and tender smile. The pastel, created in the French area in 1903 by the painter Ducreux, of whom we have no biographical information, shows various similarities with the late production of various members of the Impressionist circle, recalling, in particular, the mature activity of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Renoir, an emblematic figure of Impressionism, is universally recognized for his oil paintings, in particular his vibrant portraits and scenes of Parisian life. However, the painter, especially with regard to the second segment of his career, also explored the pastel technique with remarkable mastery, a medium that offered him unique expressive possibilities complementary to his oil painting. Renoir's interest in pastels developed from the mid-1880s, a period when other Impressionist artists such as Manet and Degas were already experimenting with this technique. Unlike his drawings, which he rarely exhibited, Renoir considered his pastels an essential part of his artistic production and frequently showed them to the public. Pastel, by its nature, allows for great speed of execution. Renoir took advantage of this quality to capture the vividness of expressions, the "rapidity of the flash of intelligence" and the "fleeting manifestations of emotion" of his subjects, often friends, family and especially young women and children. This immediacy aligned perfectly with the Impressionist aesthetic, which aimed to capture the fleeting moment. Pastels, with their powdery nature and pure colors, also allowed for light and delicate effects that were difficult to replicate with oil. He was particularly skilled at rendering the transparency of youthful complexions and the softness of textures. Pastel offers a bridge between drawing and painting. Renoir used this characteristic to combine the strength of the line with the richness of the color, creating works that combined the precision of the outline with suggestive chromatic nuances. Many of the characteristics of Renoir's pastel works are found in this paper: the colored pencils allow the painter to best render the details of the physiognomies of the portrayed, the luminosity of their complexions.