Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1841 - 1919
The Skiff (La Yole), c. 1875
Oil on canvas
71 x 92 cm
National GalleryThis sunlit scene on the river Seine is typical of the imagery that has come to characterise Impressionism, and Renoir includes several familiar Impressionist motifs such as fashionably dressed women, a rowing boat, a sail boat, and a steam train crossing a bridge. The exact location has not been identified, but we are probably looking at the river near Chatou, some ten miles west of central Paris, which was a popular spot for recreational boating.
Renoir creates an effect of summer heat and light by using bright unmixed paint directly from the tube and by avoiding black or earth tones. In placing the bright orange boat against the dark blue water, Renoir has deliberately used complementary colours, which become more intense when seen alongside each other. More on this painting
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau."
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
La loge/ The Theater Box, c. 1874
Oil on canvas
127 × 92 cm (50 × 36.2 in)
Courtauld Institute of Art
Theatre in Paris was a rapidly expanding industry during the 19th century, dominating the cultural life of the city. The theatre was an important place to see and to be seen. Wealth was flaunted; fashions paraded; allegiances made; and engagements announced. In turning away from the performance, Renoir focused instead upon the theatre as a social stage where status and relationships were on public display. More on this painting
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Sleeping Girl with a Cat, c. 1880
Oil on canvas
120 x 94 cm
Clark Art Institute
A young woman dozes in a chair, her striped stockings and plain skirt suggesting her humble background. The undergarment slipping off her shoulder attracts our gaze, while giving the impression that she is unaware of being observed. The model is thought to have been a resident of Montmartre known for her colorful slang and erratic lifestyle. The image’s suggestive nature is underscored by the presence of the equally sleepy cat resting in her lap. More on this painting
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France, in 1841. His father, Léonard Renoir, was a tailor of modest means, so in 1844, Renoir's family moved to Paris in search of more favorable prospects. The location of their home, in rue d’Argenteuil in central Paris, placed Renoir in proximity to the Louvre. Due to the family's financial circumstances, Renoir had to leave school at the age of thirteen to pursue an apprenticeship at a porcelain factory.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
A Nymph by a Stream, from 1869 until 1870
Oil on canvas
Height: 66.5 cm (26.1 in); Width: 124 cm (48.8 in)
National Gallery
This is one of the first nudes that Renoir painted. He took a traditional artistic approach, depicting the woman in a natural setting, reclining by a stream as though she were a naiad (water nymph) from the world of Greek mythology. She appears to be lying on a grassy, flower-flecked bank beside the stream, leaning with her elbow in the brook and allowing the water to flow between her fingers, but Renoir’s brushstrokes are so fluid that we can’t be entirely sure where the bank ends and the water begins.
This painting is also – in some senses – a portrait. Rather than idealising the nymph’s features in the way that more academic contemporary painters, such as Ingres, would have done, Renoir has made her recognisable. She is Lise Tréhot, the artist’s lover and the female model for almost all of his work during the early stages of his career. More on this painting
Renoir displayed a talent for his work, he frequently tired of the subject matter and sought refuge in the galleries of the Louvre. The owner of the factory recognized his apprentice's talent and communicated this to Renoir's family. Following this, Renoir started taking lessons to prepare for entry into Ecole des Beaux Arts.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
Lise with the parasol/ Lise - La femme à l'ombrelle, c. 1867
Oil on canvas
Height: 184.0 cm; Width: 115.0 cm
Folkwang Museum
In 1862, he began studying art under Charles Gleyre in Paris. There he met Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille, and Claude Monet. At times, during the 1860s, he did not have enough money to buy paint. Renoir had his first success at the Salon of 1868 with his painting Lise with a Parasol (1867) (See above), which depicted Lise Tréhot, his lover at the time. Although Renoir first started exhibiting paintings at the Paris Salon in 1864, recognition was slow in coming, partly as a result of the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War.
Renoir was inspired by the style and subject matter of previous modern painters Camille Pissarro and Edouard Manet. After a series of rejections by the Salon juries, he joined forces with Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, and several other artists to mount the first Impressionist exhibition in April 1874, in which Renoir displayed six paintings. Although the critical response to the exhibition was largely unfavorable, Renoir's work was comparatively well received. That same year, two of his works were shown with Durand-Ruel in London.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Bal du moulin de la Galette/ Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette, c. 1876
Oil on canvas
Height: 131 cm (51.5 in); Width: 175 cm (68.8 in)
Musée d'Orsay
Bal du moulin de la Galette is an 1876 painting by Renoir. It is one of Impressionism's most celebrated masterpieces. The painting depicts a typical Sunday afternoon at the original Moulin de la Galette in the district of Montmartre in Paris. In the late 19th century, working class Parisians would dress up and spend time there dancing, drinking, and eating galettes into the evening. More on this painting
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
The Swing, c. 1876
Oil on canvas
Height: 92 cm (36.2 in); Width: 73 cm (28.7 in)
Musée d'Orsay
Renoir's people seem to stand on a forest floor of blossoms. The girl, Jeanne Samary, on the swing could be fifteen, her pink dress with a hat on head increases the charm of painting. The quivering light is rendered by the patches of pale colour, particularly on the clothing and the ground. This particularly annoyed the critics when the painting was shown at the Impressionist exhibition of 1877.
The model, Jeanne Samary, a favourite of Renoir's who appears in many of his paintings. The two men are Renoir's brother Edmond and a painter friend Norbert Goeneutte. More on this painting
Hoping to secure a livelihood by attracting portrait commissions, Renoir displayed mostly portraits at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876. He contributed a more diverse range of paintings the next year when the group presented its third exhibition; they included Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (See above) and The Swing (See above). Renoir did not exhibit in the fourth or fifth Impressionist exhibitions, and instead resumed submitting his works to the Salon. By the end of the 1870s, particularly after the success of his painting Mme Charpentier and her Children (1878) (See below) at the Salon of 1879, Renoir was a successful and fashionable painter.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Mme. Charpentier and Her Children, c. 1878
Oil on canvas
Height: 153 cm (60.2 in); Width: 190 cm (74.8 in)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
In this portrait Renoir gave expression to "the poetry of an elegant home and the beautiful dresses of our time. In the Japanese-style sitting room of her Parisian townhouse—the décor and chic gown testifying to her stylish taste—Marguerite Charpentier sits beside her son, Paul. At age three, his locks are still uncut and, in keeping with current fashion, he is dressed identically to his sister Georgette, perched on the family dog. The well-connected publisher's wife, who hosted elite literary salons attended by such writers as Flaubert, the Goncourts, and Zola, used her influence to ensure that the painting enjoyed a choice spot at the Salon of 1879. More on this painting
In 1881, he traveled to Algeria, a country he associated with Eugène Delacroix, then to Madrid, to see the work of Diego Velázquez. Following that, he traveled to Italy to see Titian's masterpieces in Florence and the paintings of Raphael in Rome. On 15 January 1882, Renoir met the composer Richard Wagner (See below) at his home in Palermo, Sicily. Renoir painted Wagner's portrait in just thirty-five minutes. In the same year, after contracting pneumonia which permanently damaged his respiratory system, Renoir convalesced for six weeks in Algeria.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Richard Wagner, c. 1882
Oil on canvas
53 × 46 cm (20.8 × 18.1 in)
Orsay Museum
In 1883, Renoir spent the summer in Guernsey, one of the islands in the English Channel with a varied landscape of beaches, cliffs, and bays, where he created fifteen paintings in little over a month. Most of these feature Moulin Huet (See below), a bay in Saint Martin's, Guernsey.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Moulin Huet Bay, Guernsey, c. 1841 - 1919
Oil on canvas
29.2 x 54 cm
National Gallery, London
Renoir was starting to break away from some of the techniques of the Impressionist approach to landscape painting, which involved producing pictures almost entirely out in the open air. Instead he experimented with a return to the more traditional discipline of making oil sketches on site and a finished painting in the studio.
This is one of those sketches, and the spontaneity with which it was made is palpable. The figures are rendered with only a handful of brushstrokes, and the foam on the waves in the foreground is indicated with quick dabs and simple, wavy lines. It seems to have been made in one session: the figures were added while the paint layers of the sea were still wet. More on this painting
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Hills around Moulin Huet Bay, Guernsey, c. 1883
Oil on canvas
46x65cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
While living and working in Montmartre, Renoir employed Suzanne Valadon as a model, who posed for him (The Large Bathers, 1884–87 (See below); Dance at Bougival, 1883 (See below)) and many of his fellow painters; during that time she studied their techniques and eventually became one of the leading painters of the day.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French, 1841 - 1919
The Large Bathers, from 1884 until 87
Oil on canvas
Height: 1,178.81 mm (46.40 in); Width: 1,709.42 mm (67.30 in)
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Depicted people: Aline Charigot , Suzanne Valadon
Although this painting depicts a fleeting moment when one bather playfully threatens to splash a companion, it has a timeless, monumental quality. The sculptural rendering of the figures against a shimmering landscape and the careful application of dry paint reflect the tradition of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French painting. Renoir--in an attempt to reconcile this tradition with modern painting--labored over this work for three years, making numerous preparatory drawings for individual figures and at least two full-scale, multifigure drawings. Faced with criticism of his new style after completing The Large Bathers, an exhausted Renoir never again devoted such painstaking effort to a single work. More on this painting
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The Bathers, c. 1918–19
Oil on canvas
60 cm × 110 cm (24 in × 43 in)
Musée d'Orsay, Paris
There are two groups of naked women: two models lying in the foreground plus three bathers in the background, on the right. One of the models of this painting is Andrée Hessling, who became the first wife of Renoir's son, Jean. The natural setting displayed in the painting was the large garden of the house owned by the painter in Cagnes-sur-Mer. More on this painting
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Dance at Bougival, c. 1883
Oil on canvas
Height: 181.9 cm (71.6 in); Width: 98.1 cm (38.6 in)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Dance at Bougival is one of three in a collection commissioned by Paul Durand-Ruel.
The painting depicts two dancers surrounded by a lively scene of café goers. The painting's actual subjects are disputed, but it is well known for conveying the sense that they are in motion, making the viewer feel that they are actually there. Renoir used mostly pastel colors, but included a more vibrant hue in the hats of the both subjects. More on this painting
In 1887, the year when Queen Victoria celebrated her Golden Jubilee, and upon the request of the queen's associate, Phillip Richbourg, Renoir donated several paintings to the "French Impressionist Paintings" catalog as a token of his loyalty.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Le déjeuner des canotiers/ Luncheon of the Boating Party, from 1880 until 1881
Oil on canvas
Height: 1,302 mm (51.25 in); Width: 1,756 mm (69.13 in)
The Phillips Collection
Depicted people: Aline Charigot, Charles Ephrussi, Ellen Andrée, Jeanne Samary, Gustave Caillebotte.
Luncheon of the Boating Party was ncluded in the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition in 1882, it was identified as the best painting in the show by three critics. It is now in The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.
The painting, combining figures, still-life, and landscape in one work, depicts a group of Renoir's friends relaxing on a balcony at the Maison Fournaise restaurant along the Seine river in Chatou, France. The painter and art patron, Gustave Caillebotte, is seated in the lower right. Renoir's future wife, Aline Charigot, is in the foreground playing with a small dog; she replaced an earlier woman who sat for the painting but with whom Renoir became annoyed. More on this painting
In 1890, he married Aline Victorine Charigot, a dressmaker twenty years his junior, who, along with a number of the artist's friends, had already served as a model for Le Déjeuner des canotiers (Luncheon of the Boating Party (See above) – she is the woman on the left playing with the dog) in 1881, and with whom he had already had a child, Pierre, in 1885. After his marriage, Renoir painted many scenes of his wife and daily family life including their children and their nurse, Aline's cousin Gabrielle Renard.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
he Umbrellas, circa 1881 -86
Oil on canvas
Height: 180.3 cm (70.9 in); Width: 114.9 cm (45.2 in)
National Gallery
This painting places us in a busy Parisian street close to six principal figures who fill the foreground. A milling crowd behind them almost completely blocks out the boulevard beyond. The top quarter of the picture is mostly filled by a canopy of at least a dozen umbrellas.
Painted in two stages, with a gap of around four years between each stage, it shows the change in Renoir’s art during the 1880s, when he was beginning to move away from Impressionism and looking instead to classical art. The group on the right, which includes a mother and her two daughters and the woman in profile in the centre, is painted in a characteristically Impressionist manner with delicate feathery touches of rich luminous tones. On the left of the composition, completed during the second stage, Renoir adopted a more linear style. The figures here, including the full-length young woman and the man standing behind her, have clearly defined outlines, precisely drawn features and a greater sense of three-dimensional form. More on this painting
Pierre Auguste Renoir
Girls in black, c. 1880-1882
Oil on canvas
81.3x65.2 cm
Museum of Fine Arts. A.S. Pushkin
Renoir met Aline Charigot, a young dressmaker of 20 years old then, in 1879, when the artist was nearly 40.
Aline's father was a wine grower from Essoyes, a small village in the province of Champagne. Alina's mother was also a dressmaker.
When Aline was 15 months, her father left for America, her mother found a job somewhere far from Essoyes. Aline lived with her uncle and aunt until her mother moved to Paris in 1872. Two years later Aline joined her and started working as a dressmaker. More on Aline Charigot
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Maternité, dit aussi l'Enfant au sein/ Maternity, c. 1885
Oil on canvas
Height: 910 mm (35.82 in); Width: 720 mm (28.34 in)
Musée d'Orsay
Depicted people: Aline Charigot, Pierre Renoir
Around 1892, Renoir developed rheumatoid arthritis. In 1907, he moved to the warmer climate of "Les Collettes," a farm at the village of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (See below), close to the Mediterranean coast. Renoir painted during the last twenty years of his life even after his arthritis severely limited his mobility. He developed progressive deformities in his hands and ankylosis of his right shoulder, requiring him to change his painting technique.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Landscape near Cagnes-sur-Mer, c. 1908 and 1914
Oil on canvas
Height: 19 cm (7.4 in); Width: 24 cm (9.4 in)
National Museum in Warsaw
In 1919, Renoir visited the Louvre to see his paintings hanging with those of the old masters. During this period, he created sculptures by cooperating with a young artist, Richard Guino, who worked the clay.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Tilla Durieux, c. 1914
Oil on canvas
Height: 92.1 cm (36.2 in); Width: 73.7 cm (29 in)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Renoir's portrait of Austrian actress Tilla Durieux (1914) contains playful flecks of vibrant color on her shawl that offset the classical pose of the actress and highlight Renoir's skill just five years before his death.
Renoir died at Cagnes-sur-Mer on 3 December 1919. More on Pierre-Auguste Renoir
No comments:
Post a Comment