Woman with Grapevine, 3rd variant

Woman with Grapevine, 3rd variant is a complex and nuanced lithograph created by Pierre Auguste Renoir (French, 1841-1919), produced through a collaborative effort involving master printer Auguste Clot and the renowned publisher Ambroise Vollard. Executed between 1899 and 1909, this piece showcases Renoir’s late-career dedication to printmaking, demonstrating how he translated the sensuous lines and soft focus of his paintings into the monochrome medium of lithography.

This particular work is a lithograph printed in black on delicate cream Japanese paper, a choice that enhances the subtle tonal variations inherent in the technique. The lithographic process allowed Renoir to maintain the intimate, almost sketch-like quality of the image, depicting a female figure often associated with fertility or classical Bacchantes due to her interaction with the grapevine motif. This subject matter reflects the enduring interest in idealized female forms and natural settings that characterized much of Renoir’s output throughout his career in France.

The existence of a "3rd variant" indicates that the artist continuously refined this composition, exploring the subtleties of light and shadow achievable using the lithographic crayon to modulate the visual weight and texture. Renoir, alongside other Impressionist masters, frequently engaged with printers like Clot to create high-quality prints accessible to a wider audience. This piece resides in the permanent prints collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and offers insight into Renoir’s mature exploration of graphic arts during the transitional period of 1900s modernism.