Unknown Renoir painting sells for 1.8 million euros at auction

A previously unknown painting by French impressionist master Auguste Renoir depicting his young son Jean was sold on Tuesday in Paris for 1.8 million euros ($2.08 million), the Drouot auction house announced. The canvas, titled “L’enfant et ses jouets – Gabrielle et le fils de l’artiste, Jean” (“The Child and His Toys – Gabrielle and the Artist’s Son, Jean”), had neither been exhibited publicly nor put up for sale before this auction, making its appearance on the market a notable event for art historians and collectors.

The work comes from the private collection of Jeanne Baudot, Jean Renoir’s godmother, who was a close friend and pupil of the painter. She preserved the painting throughout her life, eventually passing it down to her heirs. Believed to have been created between 1890 and 1895, the oil painting portrays Renoir’s second son, Jean—who would later become one of France’s most influential filmmakers—seated beside his nanny Gabrielle, a recurring figure in Renoir’s domestic scenes.

Art historian and Renoir specialist Pascal Perrin praised the painting during its presentation, highlighting the remarkable condition of the piece. According to Perrin, the canvas has never undergone restoration, an uncommon characteristic for works of its age and a factor that contributed to its strong market performance.

Jean Renoir, born in 1894, would go on to achieve global recognition in cinema. His distinguished film career earned him a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 1975. Among his most celebrated works is “La Grande Illusion” (1937), a landmark film following two French prisoners of war attempting to escape German captivity during World War I. The rediscovered painting thus offers an intimate glimpse into the childhood of a figure who would later become a pillar of world cinema.

Prior to the auction, the artwork had been estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million euros, and its eventual sale exceeded these expectations. Drouot identified the purchaser only as an “international buyer,” reflecting the strong global interest in rare works from renowned impressionist artists.

The sale comes at a moment when the high-end art market has shown signs of renewed momentum after several years of slower activity. Recent headline-grabbing auctions—including a Frida Kahlo self-portrait that sold in New York last week for $54.66 million, setting a record for any painting by a woman, and a Gustav Klimt canvas that achieved $236.4 million—suggest that collectors’ appetite for exceptional works is once again on the rise.