By Luciano Migliaccio
The model is Renoir’s second son, Jean, born on September 15th, 1894, who became a famous film director. Renoir executed several works like Four Portrait Studies of Jean Renoir, which depict several heads against different backgrounds and with the same profile, an exercise he resorted to when he was not able to concentrate on a larger painting, or as a way of pondering the work itself. These pieces enabled Renoir to express himself with more freedom (André 1928, p. 45) and were not meant to be exhibited, because he considered them “unfinished” (statement of the artist in L’Eclair, 1892). Jean Renoir (1962, p. 391) recalls that very rarely did his father ask him to remain in the same position while he completed a detail of a painting, and in fact preferred to portray models, professional models too, while they moved freely around. This kind of sketch was useful as a preparation for the final work (André 1928, p. 39), or as a study to help solve problems that arose during the execution of larger compositions (Rivière 1925, p. 1).

— Luciano Migliaccio, 1998