Who is Renoir ?
Discover who Renoir is and explore his artistic legacy and influence on art.
A major figure in Impressionism, Pierre-Auguste Renoir is now one of the most French artists internationally.
His paintings reflect his initial desire to capture life, moments of happiness and serenity.
He remained true to this ambition throughout his career, which spanned more than half a century and included around 7,000 works, despite the evolution of his style.
PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR : A REVOLUTIONARY CAREER
Born in 1841 in Limoges, Pierre-Auguste Renoir came from a modest background. His father worked as a tailor, and his mother was a seamstress. He was the sixth of seven children. In 1844, the family moved to Paris in search of a better life.
At the age of thirteen, Renoir became an apprentice in a porcelain painting workshop, later working in a fan, blind, and wood panel painting workshop.
In 1862, he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he met several individuals who would have a decisive influence on his career, including Frédéric Bazille, Alfred Sisley, and Claude Monet.
The group often gathered in the Forest of Fontainebleau to paint outdoors, and their friendship deepened. Soon, the young artists began to move away from the traditional art taught at the school and went on to form a new artistic movement—Impressionism.
With them, paintings depicting scenes of everyday life and landscapes began to emerge. These works were painted quickly outdoors, using juxtaposed strokes of pure color to convey the overall impression and sensations perceived by the artist.
They also serve as a testament to an era, capturing everyday life in the face of the modernity brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
The Bal at Moulin de la Galette (1876) and the Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-1881) are among Renoir’s most famous Impressionist paintings.
THE EVOLUTION OF A MASTER Artist
Faced with criticism and misunderstanding from his contemporaries toward Impressionism, Renoir distanced himself from the movement :
“Around 1883, there was something of a break in my work. I had gone all the way with Impressionism and I realized that I didn’t know how to paint or draw. In a word, I had reached a dead end”.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Renoir remained determined in his quest for absolute pictorial art. He went through a period known as the “Ingresque” phase, followed by a “pearly” period. A famous work from this latter period, Young Girls at the Piano (1892), was the first of Renoir’s paintings to be purchased by the state. This official recognition cemented his status in the eyes of the public.
In the final years of his life, Renoir took up sculpture with the help of Richard Guino and the Essoyen Louis Morel.
Renoir passed away at the age of 78 in Cagnes-sur-Mer. He was affectionately known as the “painter of happiness.”
