Renoir

by Barbara Ehrlich White

  Despite the strange dynamics of Renoir’s family being known, it came as a shock to everyone when Aline abruptly fired loyal Gabrielle in November 1913. No one knew why. A letter of 28 December from Cassatt to Havemeyer reveals the writer’s dismay: ‘The wife sent off the former model who has been with them eighteen years and was Renoir’s devoted nurse. She, the wife, was jealous and says she takes the nursing on herself, that she doesn’t, and he is without a nurse, he who is as helpless as a baby; that poor girl was very fond of him; he now is without affection around him.’113 The Bernheim family’s perception of why Aline had fired Gabrielle was similar, as a grandson later reported: ‘The loyal Gabrielle who cared for him with such devotion represented his ideal woman: model, nurse and guardian angel. After so many years, Madame Renoir, was suddenly seized by a fit of jealousy against this dear and loyal guardian and forced Renoir to fire her, which he had to do, though sick at heart, in order to achieve calm in the household.’114

  After Gabrielle left in November 1913, Renoir himself subtly revealed new friction in his relationship with his wife when he wrote to Georges Durand-Ruel the following month that it would be best if Paul Durand-Ruel would not visit him in Cagnes until Aline was there: ‘My wife prefers to be here when he visits. She doesn’t trust me.’115 Soon after Aline dismissed Gabrielle, Cassatt again wrote about the Renoirs in a letter to Havemeyer: ‘His wife I dislike and now that she has got rid of his nurse and model, she is always there.’116 Joseph Durand-Ruel made a similar observation to his brother on 20 April 1914: ‘[Mme Renoir] is watching her husband closely and seems to tell him what to do for everything. [I] wasn’t able to chat with Renoir alone for two minutes.’117 In March 1915, Cassatt told Havemeyer: ‘Vollard and Mme Renoir come to luncheon tomorrow. M. Renoir wanted to come. You may be sure she did not urge him.’118 It seems that Cassatt believed that Mme Renoir did not want Renoir to join them.

  The only explanation any of Renoir’s friends could give for the sudden departure of Gabrielle was jealousy on Aline’s part, as we have seen from both Cassatt and the Bernheims. Certainly, all Gabrielle’s letters show that she was a caring person who was pained by Renoir’s suffering. But what would be the cause of Aline’s jealousy? There is no evidence whether for or against Renoir and Gabrielle having had a sexual affair throughout the previous eighteen years. By 1913, most probably Renoir and Gabrielle were not having any kind of affair, since Renoir was too debilitated and Gabrielle was in a long-term relationship with an American artist, Conrad Slade (on whom more shortly).

  It is much more likely that Aline was jealous of Gabrielle’s access to Renoir’s secrets and her important position in Renoir’s private life. I surmise that the only thing that could possibly have made Aline angry enough to fire Gabrielle would have been the discovery of Renoir’s biggest secret – his illegitimate daughter, Jeanne Tréhot. Aline could have found out about her through a practice she had begun three years earlier, that of snooping through Gabrielle’s things. Gabrielle had reported to Vollard: ‘His wife will bother you all the time. She came when the boss wasn’t here and she filched some etchings from me that he wanted to keep. He is nice but his wife is very annoying. She will annoy you the whole time.’119 Despite Gabrielle’s knowledge of Aline’s snooping around her room, it could be that Gabrielle had left evidence of Jeanne Tréhot’s existence in her room, such as Jeanne’s newly written will that named Gabrielle as her sole heir. Jeanne wrote her will on 12 June 1913, kept one copy for herself, which remained with her family papers, and sent the other copy to Gabrielle. In this will, she identified herself as Jeanne Marguerite Tréhot. Aline, probably knowing that Renoir’s first model was Lise Tréhot, could easily have deduced that Jeanne was Renoir’s illegitimate child. The fact that Jeanne had made Gabrielle her only heir would have shown Aline that Gabrielle not only knew about Renoir’s illegitimate daughter but also had become Jeanne’s favourite person.

  The copy of Jeanne’s will that she kept at home reads: ‘This is my last will and testament: I, the undersigned, Jeanne Marguerite Tréhot, widow of Louis Théophile Robinet, residing in the village of Madré give and bequeath by this will to Mlle Gabrielle Renard, who lives with Mme Dupuy, rue [de] Clignancourt, no. 23, in Paris, all the possessions movable and immovable that I will leave when I die, as my general legacy and my only heir excluding all others.’120 We know that Gabrielle did not in fact live with Georgette Dupuy but with the Renoirs nearby at 57 bis boulevard Rochechouart. While Gabrielle remained where Renoir was living, Jeanne could not send her will to that address since Aline could have intercepted the letter. Instead, Jeanne sent all her correspondence with Renoir to either Georgette Dupuy or Vollard, people who were privy to Renoir’s secret. If, as I propose, Aline found the will in Gabrielle’s room and confronted her as to who Jeanne Tréhot Robinet was, it is likely that Gabrielle would have refused to answer, even if Aline had threatened to dismiss her. Gabrielle was much closer to Renoir than she had ever been to Aline so would doubtless have chosen to remain silent.

  When Aline fired Gabrielle, the person most important for Renoir’s physical and psychological wellbeing, she must have intended to hurt him. He was then seventy-two. It was the strongest way she could punish her husband for thirty-five years of secrecy and deception. It is possible that since Renoir avoided conflict, indirectness was the only weapon that Aline had. If my suppositions are correct, Aline must have felt extremely hurt and betrayed. Doubtless, her pain was intensified because her father had deceived her mother. Aline’s suspicions could explain why she would not allow Joseph Durand-Ruel two minutes alone with Renoir. It is even possible that Aline never directly confronted Renoir about Jeanne’s will, for Gabrielle would have told Renoir why Aline had fired her. It is probable that, if Aline had come to know Renoir’s secret, they felt there was nothing to discuss.

  If Aline indeed discovered Renoir’s secret (as I believe), this revelation would have delivered a blow to the little control that Renoir still had over his own life. With his health spiralling out of control and his physical limitations increasing, it is easy to see why Renoir expressed a view that Rivière later reminded him of having said a month after Gabrielle’s dismissal: ‘Sometimes we resemble a cork in the water and we never know where it will lead us.’121 André quoted a similar statement by Renoir in his May 1919 book, whose text Renoir approved: ‘Today, as I look back on the life behind me, I compare it to one of those corks thrown in the river. It dashes ahead and then is taken by a backwater, brought backwards, dives, resurfaces, is caught by some grass, makes a hopeless effort to break free and ends up getting lost, I don’t know where.’122 Renoir had always used his secrets to keep a part of himself invulnerable. Once Aline unearthed this hidden information, the only thing Renoir could do was to maintain as much control as possible by never revealing the truth behind Gabrielle’s dismissal and thus continuing to keep Jeanne Tréhot a secret from everyone, including his close friends and children. Even though Aline probably now knew, she could never disclose Renoir’s secret without besmirching his reputation and her own. Hence she would never have revealed this secret.

  Gabrielle in Renoir’s studio at 38, blvd de Rochechouart, Paris, c. 1912–13. Original print 18 × 24 cm (7⅛ × 9½ in.). Private collection. Photographer unknown

  Luckily for Gabrielle, when Aline fired her, Conrad Slade invited her to live with him at Cagnes’s Hotel Savournin.123 At that time, Gabrielle was thirty-five and Slade forty-two. The couple had met when Slade had moved to Cagnes in 1906 with the express intention of befriending Renoir, whom he greatly admired.124 Gabrielle and Conrad stayed together for the next thirty-seven years until Conrad’s death in 1950. If Slade had not welcomed Gabrielle, she would have been obliged to return to her family in Essoyes since she had little money. After she moved out of Les Collettes, it took her a while to adjust to her new situation, during which she lost contact with everyone but Renoir. When she did reach out to Jeanne Tréhot, on 8 December 1913, she wrote on Hotel Savournin stationery:
‘My dear Jeanne; This letter comes from a phantom. When I see you I will explain why you have not heard from me for so long!’ Since Gabrielle was living in a hotel, she was out of touch with Georgette Dupuy and asked Jeanne: ‘Have you heard from Mme Dupuy? I don’t know what she has been doing. It’s been a month since I last heard from her. If she has written to you, let me know.’ However, she had kept in touch with Renoir and reported to his daughter: ‘M. Renoir is well; he told me to send you 100 francs. When you receive it, let me know at the address on the heading…. M. Renoir asks me to send you his best wishes and I give you my love. Gabrielle Renard.’125 Even though Renoir’s secret had probably been uncovered by Aline, he did not allow it to change his relationship with Jeanne. As in the past, after Gabrielle was dismissed, Renoir still gave Gabrielle 100 francs to send to Jeanne along with an expression of his love, as he had, for example, in December 1910.126

  Gabrielle’s letter to Jeanne clearly states that she would see her shortly: ‘When I see you I will explain’. From November to December 1913, Gabrielle had risen in status from famous painter’s maid to the partner of a wealthy Bostonian. All surviving documentation shows that she was kind and generous; it is likely that she explained to Jeanne that she no longer needed to be the beneficiary of Jeanne’s will. Subsequently, Jeanne made a new will, writing: ‘I revoke all former wills.’ Her new will was identical to the former one except for the designated heir; instead of Gabrielle, Jeanne named two heirs. Both were her foster family’s relatives: ‘1. Georges David my godson, son of Valentin David and of Alphonsine Gautier for the first half and 2. Louise Gautier, my goddaughter…for the other half.’ Jeanne’s revised will reveals that she was a devout Catholic, as were her foster family: ‘I want a second-class funeral in the cemetery of Madré, and to be buried in a casket of good-quality oak, and that the funeral be held as soon as possible after my death in the church of Madré. I also want an annual mass celebrated in my honour and in the honour of my late husband. I give and bequeath to the Madré charitable organization a sum of 200 francs, tax-free, on condition that this organization oversee the care of our grave in the cemetery.’127 This clarifies her intention to be buried in the same tomb as her husband.

  Gabrielle’s promised visit in the winter of 1913–14 was a continuation of visits that she and Georgette had been making on Renoir’s behalf since he had become too crippled to go to Madré himself. Ever since the death of her husband in 1908, Jeanne had been frail and sickly, which worried her father, Gabrielle and Georgette. For example, Georgette had proposed a visit some years before: ‘Little Jeannette; Your letter made us very happy, but it’s really a shame that you’re always sick. You should try to eat a little more but when you are not hungry, it is not easy. You would need a glutton like me around to make you eat. In any case, we will do our best to come and see you at Easter…and when I am there, you will have no other choice but to eat.’ It seems that only Jeanne’s involvement in Madré’s Catholic community kept her functioning, as shown by Georgette adding: ‘Right now, my little Jeannette, I have beautiful communion crowns from the shop where I work that are not too faded. I thought that they could be useful to you in your processions. So if you want them, let me know and I’ll send them to you. In the meantime take good care of yourself so that we will find you fresh as a daisy when we come…. Much love to all. Say hello to all of Madré.’128

  In addition to her life in Madré, Jeanne visited her father in Paris once a year starting in 1909, as described in Chapter 5, usually for a week in late August when Aline and the children would be in Essoyes. Renoir wrote to her in July 1910: ‘Dear Jeanette; I made sure that you can come to Paris at the end of August in better conditions than last year [see Chapter 5]. I know that you are OK. I am very glad about that. I am sending you a little money to put aside. With love…Renoir.’129

  In anticipation of Jeanne’s late summer visit to Paris, Georgette and Jeanne also corresponded in July. The earlier friction between them had disappeared and Jeanne invited the Dupuys to visit her in Madré. Georgette responded: ‘Little Jeannette…. Now my little Jeannette, you asked us to go to Madré. You must know that it is not because we do not want to that we cannot come, but M. Dupuy has a lot to do these days. I think that on 15 August he will maybe have a few days off. I was going to send you some grapes but if I am coming in two weeks, then I will bring you some; it is safer. I am fixing up your little room. And if that is possible we will spend a week with you and we will travel back together’, so that Jeanne could visit her father in Paris. In the same letter, Georgette also reported: ‘Monsieur Renoir is in Germany until the end of August. He is well and before leaving, he asked me to write you and to give you all his love.’130 Since Jeanne had planned to visit her father in Paris in August, the news that Renoir was in Germany until the end of the month seems to have made her anxious. To reassure her, Renoir wrote: ‘My dear Jeanne; I received the letter you wrote to Madame Dupuy. At this time I am so busy that I don’t know what to say. I am with the Germans and I may have to be away for a few days. Please don’t worry. I am always thinking of you. Don’t ask of me more than what I can do. When things quiet down, I will tell you. With love, Renoir.’131 When Renoir returned to Paris, Jeanne’s visit went ahead as expected. Four months later, on 28 December 1910, Renoir began planning for his daughter’s next annual visit: ‘My dear Jeanne; I wish you a happy new year and good health. I am as well as possible. I hope to see you again this summer. I am sending you one hundred francs at the same time [as this letter]. With love, Renoir.’132

  While Renoir’s eldest child, forty-year-old Jeanne, was struggling with widowhood in 1910, his youngest, nine-year-old Coco, was still a child. Because both Renoir and Aline were ailing during his childhood, Coco was raised more by assorted maids and models than by his parents. His education, too, was never stable for more than a few months at a time because of the family’s constant moving. When Coco was ten and Jean seventeen, Renoir settled in Nice, as we have seen, so that the boys could attend the local day school, the Lycée Masséna. As Renoir explained to Durand-Ruel in 1912, they rented an apartment in ‘Nice…for the children in school, it’s less complicated’.133 Around the same time, Gabrielle wrote to Vollard: ‘Claude goes to school with Jean every morning.’134 Whether the family was in Essoyes, Paris, Cagnes or Nice, Coco was also privately tutored. For example, on 25 March 1915, Renoir wrote from Les Collettes: ‘Coco is in Cannes with a teacher to catch up on missed schoolwork, which makes the house a little too quiet.’135

  Until Coco was nine, he posed for a total of forty-five portraits. Modelling then tapered off until he was fourteen, producing only five portraits. During this period, Coco sometimes helped his father even when he was playing. In February 1910 when Coco was only eight, his chain-smoking father let him play with a cigarette-roller Durand-Ruel had sent: ‘I received the machine to make cigarettes; it is making the children happy. Coco makes them and I don’t need to tell you that this toy has, for the time being, dethroned his locomotive.’136

  Aline, meanwhile, took an interest in her young son’s religious upbringing. Thanks to her, Coco’s first communion, when he was eleven, was a big family event. On 19 March 1913, from Cagnes, Renoir wrote to André, Coco’s godfather: ‘Claude’s Communion will take place around 18 or 25 May with great pomp. Lunch at the Hotel Savournin.’137 The day of Claude’s communion, Jean, then in military training in the centre of France, wrote: ‘Dear Coco, Thursday’s your First Communion – I’m very happy and will think of you on that day…. At the moment of the great event, I will be, without a doubt, on a horse in the fields. Pray to the Good Lord for your Papa and your Maman. Your big brother who loves you very much.’138

  Coco was an affectionate and energetic child, more interested in play than in study. A year earlier, in May 1912, Gabrielle had written a note on the back of one of Renoir’s letters to Arsène Alexandre: ‘Claude is very funny. He goes to school every day and he is the sweetest of the three children.’139 The next ye
ar, Renoir wrote to Bernheim from Les Collettes: ‘I shall be staying in Nice for Coco’s teachers, because all he does here is climb trees which is excellent but nevertheless not sufficient for a boy of his age.’140

  While Coco was shuttled about because of his parents’ nomadic lifestyle, only Pierre had a stable, permanent residence in the family’s Paris apartment while building his acting career, as described in Chapter 5. He even had business cards and postcards printed with ‘Pierre Renoir…43 rue Caulaincourt’.141 Since Pierre did not make enough money to be independent, he relied on his father’s fortune and, in return, became the family’s Paris representative. Thus, in June 1911, Gabrielle wrote to Vollard, ‘You must have seen Pierre who surely gave you our news.’142 Pierre also relayed information within his family, as demonstrated by a September 1912 letter from Aline to Durand-Ruel: ‘I saw Pierre yesterday and he gave me good news about his father.’143 Additionally, Pierre acted as Renoir’s companion when the artist visited Paris. For example, in August 1911, Renoir wrote to Monet, then in Giverny: ‘Sunday I plan to come by car to see you with Pierre.’144 Meanwhile, Pierre had his parents’ permission to get money from his father’s dealers. In 1910, when Pierre’s theatre company was touring, he wrote: ‘My dear Vollard, I am leaving tomorrow night for Holland and I want to be safe by having a pretty large sum of money with me. I would like 1,000 francs.’145 Another note to Vollard stated: ‘I am coming to bother you again. I need another 1,000 francs. I will stop by [your office] tomorrow, Saturday, afternoon.’146