by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 2, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000
An elderly Renoir turns toward us under a light-coloured hat. A white scarf loops below his beard, and a glowing red ground surrounds the figure. The work on this site's Self Portrait III route is a privately held Self-Portrait dated 1910 in the published image record. The common title can confuse it with several other Renoir self-portraits. This one is distinguished by its red background, nearly frontal three-quarter view, and inscriptions at the upper corners. Wikimedia Commons file citing Gilles Néret's Renoir book [1]; Bridgeman Images, separate 1910 self-portrait record. [2]
At a glance
- ArtistPierre-Auguste Renoir
- Published titleSelf-Portrait; French Autoportrait
- Date1910, recorded on the image and in the catalogue source
- Medium and sizeOil on canvas, 45.7 × 38.1 cm in the Commons catalogue record
- CollectionPrivate collection in the published image record
- Distinguishing viewLight hat, pale scarf and vivid red ground
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Watch on YouTubeThese measurements come from a book-sourced Commons object record rather than an accessible current owner catalogue. They are useful for identification but should be treated with that source limit in mind. The format is taller than wide, and the head and shoulders take nearly all its space. The hat reaches close to the top edge; the coat extends beyond the bottom. Commons object and image record. [1]
Warm colour around an older face
The red background is most intense to the left of the hat and face. It darkens to brown near the right edge. That variation gives the pale hat and beard a stronger presence than a flat field would. Renoir repeats warm ochres in the hat and the face, while the scarf below the beard introduces cooler light passages. The coat is dark and broad, so the eye returns to the lit head. This reading rests on the pictured surface; the exact original colour should be checked against a current owner-authorized photograph before making pigment claims.
Although the portrait is close, the gaze does not quite offer the steady frontality of the 1899 Clark self-portrait. Renoir's head turns slightly, and the hat's brim sweeps from left to right across the brow. One cheek catches more light than the other. The nose and moustache meet in a cluster of thicker-looking strokes, while the white beard breaks into short marks. A small dark eye holds the face together amid those shifting tones.
The scarf matters almost as much as the hat. Its pale folds curl below the beard and cross at the centre of the chest. They continue the movement of the moustache and whiskers downward, making a chain of curved strokes from face to clothing. The surrounding coat is much darker, which keeps the scarf readable even though its edges are not closed by a hard line. The portrait shows Renoir painting light through adjacent warm and cool areas rather than drawing every form separately.
Which 1910 self-portrait?
Another painting from 1910, Self-Portrait with a White Hat, shows Renoir in a left-facing profile before a dark green ground. A Fondation Pierre Gianadda exhibition checklist records that separate oil canvas at 42 × 33 cm. It has a pale hat and white beard too, so a short caption can easily sound as if it refers to this red picture. The background, orientation and dimensions provide a reliable distinction. Fondation Pierre Gianadda exhibition dossier [3]; Commons red portrait record. [1]
The two pictures should not be combined into a single biography of a sitting. The available records date both to 1910, but they do not say that one was a preparatory study for the other or establish their order within that year. In this red-ground portrait, Renoir faces us more directly; in the white-hat picture he gives a profile. Those visible choices support comparison without requiring a speculative narrative.
The older site label Self Portrait III is likewise a local convention. It does not identify an official third canvas in a numbered sequence. Clark 1955.584 [4] is an earlier portrait of about 1875; Clark 1955.611 [5] dates to 1899. Both are owned and documented by the Clark Art Institute. This red 1910 picture is privately held in the accessible record and has a different published image trail. Title alone is inadequate for determining which work a page shows.
Date, signature and limits of the record
The upper left of the reproduction carries numerals read as 1910, while “Renoir” appears at the upper right. The Commons record based on Gilles Néret's book lists the work as a 1910 oil on canvas in a private collection, measuring 45.7 × 38.1 cm. A separate Bridgeman Images listing identifies a red Renoir self-portrait as a 1910 oil painting. The matching image, inscriptions and dimensions support this page's object identity. Commons, Autoportrait, 1910 [1]; Bridgeman Images, asset 76848. [2]
The current private owner is unnamed in those accessible records. They also do not provide a complete provenance or a documented account of how Renoir set up the painting. We cannot infer the location of a sitting from the red field, or decide from the expression how he felt. It is possible to speak more confidently about visible composition than about undocumented circumstances.
Looking again
Follow the red at the upper left into the hat's broad brim. Move down through the eyes and white beard to the scarf's crossing folds. Then look at the far-right edge, where red becomes darker and the coat merges with it. The warm surround makes the pale forms glow, yet the face remains made of separate marks. Compare the green-ground profile from the same year: two similarly aged likenesses can give very different experiences of presence and distance.
Renoir artworks directory
Questions about the red-background Self-Portrait
The image includes a 1910 inscription, and its published book-sourced record dates the painting to 1910.
No. This canvas has a red background and Renoir turns toward us. The separate white-hat portrait shows a left-facing profile against dark green and is recorded at 42 × 33 cm.
The available Commons record calls it a private-collection work. It does not name the present owner.
No. It is this website's older route label. The object's date, red background and source record identify it more reliably.
Discussion
What do you notice when you return to Renoir’s Self-Portrait (1910, red background)?
How does the red background change the light around Renoir’s hat and face?
Reader Insights
How does the red background change the light around Renoir’s hat and face?
The exact image is catalogued as a privately held 1910 self-portrait, separate from the white-hat profile.
Where do the strokes of the scarf and beard echo one another?
Join the Conversation
Share a close observation or a source-backed question about Renoir’s Self-Portrait (1910, red background).
References
- Wikimedia Commons, Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Autoportrait, 1910.jpg: book-sourced title, date, medium, dimensions and private-collection designation, citing Gilles Néret, Renoir, peintre du bonheur (Taschen, 2001), p. 233 View source.
- Bridgeman Images, Self portrait, 1910, asset 76848: separate image listing for the red-ground painting View source.
- Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Renoir exhibition dossier: Autoportrait au chapeau blanc, the distinct 1910 profile canvas used for comparison View source.
- Clark 1955.584 View source.
- Clark 1955.611 View source.
