Renoir painting from Whitney estate in Manhasset goes to auction at Christie's

A Renoir masterpiece that hung in the Whitney family’s Manhasset home for nearly a century, is set to go public and could fetch more than $30 million at auction.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s classic 1877 painting "La femme aux lilas" arrived at Christie’s New York, where it was unboxed for the first time Monday as part of the Whitney family’s collection.

The painting was briefly on exhibit at Christie’s in London, before a planned free public display at Christie’s New York from May 9 through 18, when it was set to go to auction.

The painting is the centerpiece of the Whitney’s family collection, and hung in the living room of the family’s Manhasset home until the death of Lorinda Payson de Roulet in October.

"She’s beautiful," said de Roulet’s daughter, Whitney Bullock, 74, of Florida and Dutchess County, in an interview. "No one has seen it except us for about 100 years."

The painting by Renoir captured one of his favorite subjects, Nini Lopez, a Montmartre actress in France, in an oil painting on canvas, set against a blue background and holding a bouquet of flowers.

"She's gorgeous, you can feel the sun, which is beautiful," said Alex Rotter, Christie's global president, after seeing the painting for the first time Monday.

Art experts consider it a rare Impressionist painting in the Renoir collection, not on exhibit in museums, and an example of Renoir's abstract painting style, rich with color, surrounding the portrait of Lopez.

"Renoir was quite prolific. He was long lived, but the greatest works of art that he produced virtually all went to museums at an early stage, said Max Carter, global chairman for 20th and 21st century art for Christie’s. "More than pretty much any other Impressionist, we don't see his truly important paintings come to market publicly. The thing about precious and modern art is that there isn’t more of it. It becomes rarer and rarer every year. ... This is the rarest of the rare."

The painting was purchased for about $100,000 in 1929, about six weeks after the October stock market crash that sparked the Great Depression. Christie’s officials did not estimate the purchase in today’s dollars, but inflation figures would place it at about $1.9 million.

De Roulet was the daughter of Mets founder Joan Whitney Payson and Charles Shipman Payson. Joan Whitney Payson was the sister of John Hay Whitney, former publisher of The New York Herald Tribune and president and chairman of the board of New York's Modern Museum of Art. Manhattan prosecutors recently returned a trove of rare books to the Whitney family. 

Joan Whitney Payson helped found the Mets in 1962 after failing to keep the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in upper Manhattan. De Roulet also served as president of the team until the family sold its shares in 1980. The family attempted to hold a stake in the team in a partnership with Islanders owner John Pickett before the sale fell through and the team was sold to Picket with Fred Wilpon and Doubleday and Co.

The painting is valued at between $25 million and $35 million, Carter said. The work will be on display at Christie’s gallery at Rockefeller Center. The Whitney family previously sold another Renoir painting, the "Bal du Moulin de la Galette"  in 1990 for $78 million.

The Whitney family is also auctioning other pieces of their collection including art by Marc Chagall, Edgar Degas, Winslow Homer, Alfred Sisley and Andrew Wyeth. 

The family art was kept at the Manhasset estate and previously included a Picasso that hung above the family living room. The Picasso hung above a Nerf dart board that children would shoot foam missiles in the house, Bullock said.

De Roulet sold the Picasso to help start the Patrina Foundation, to help support nonprofits that support young girls and women. 

De Roulet's parents donated 15 acres of their estate in 1949 to establish North Shore University Hospital and De Roulet continued to support the hospital.

Bullock said the art collection was part of her childhood and she is becoming nostalgic looking back at the collection.

The 500-acre family estate, known as Greentree, was bought by Payne Whitney in 1904. The family never left Long Island, Bullock said, except when Vincent de Roulet served as an ambassador for President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973.

"I recognize the fact that I was lucky enough to have grown up with this collection," Bullock said. "I think more later in life, perhaps after grandma passed, that we really recognized how amazing it was."

Bullock said her mother loved Long Island, including boating from Long Island to Florida and Maine. She said de Roulet was also committed to the Nassau County Art Museum, including several paintings she lent the museum, such as her prized Degas painting, also up for auction, "Children and Ponies in a Park."

"She was committed to Long Island and a New Yorker through and through," Bullock said.

Bullock said she hopes the art work goes to a good home, whether it be a private collector or a public institution. She said she is keeping a few of her favorite paintings.

"I'm really hoping she finds a really happy home somebody that really, really enjoys her," Bullock said of the Renoir.