Renoir's 'La femme aux lilas' to be auctioned at Christie's after 97 years in Whitney-Payson family collection

On May 18 in New York, Christie's will put up for auction Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'La femme aux lilas (Portrait de Nini Lopez),' painted in 1876-77, with an estimated value between $25 million and $35 million. The artwork depicts actress Nini Lopez with flowers. In 1929, Joan Whitney Payson acquired it for $100,000, a notable addition to her collection; she later established the New York Mets. For 97 years, the painting remained within her family, eventually passing to her daughter Lorinda Payson de Roulet, who passed away at 95 in November. Christie's will also present nine items from de Roulet's collection. Max Carter praised the Whitney Payson family as "one of the greatest American collecting families." Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, founder of the Whitney Museum, is part of the painting's provenance.