Eugène Murer (Hyacinthe-Eugène Meunier, 1841–1906)

Auguste Renoir

1877 · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

Murer was an artist, celebrated pastry cook, restaurateur, novelist, poet, and avid collector of Impressionist paintings. By 1887, ten years after he sat for this portrait, he had amassed some 122 works by his painter-friends, including 15 by Renoir, whom he called "the greatest artist of our century." It has been suggested that Murer’s pose and gaze in this work served as a model for Van Gogh’s famous portrait of another great Impressionist collector, Dr. Paul-Ferdinand Gachet (private collection), Murer’s neighbor in Auvers.

Artist

Auguste Renoir

Date

1877

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002