"I have always been anxious," said Pierre Auguste Renoir, "to paint women as beautiful fruits." One of his favorites was Gabrielle, his son "Coco's" rosy-cheeked nurse. Over the years, gallery-goers have seen scores of Gabrielles. Last week the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco proudly put on display one it was sure the public had never seen.
The painting had reached the U.S. in the typical roundabout of forgotten masterpieces, after a journey that began in 1909 when Renoir's own dealer, Ambroise Vollard, sold it to a collector from Germany. The picture dropped out of sight, remained in...
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