Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who lived from 1841 to 1919 who is most remembered for his involvement in the Impressionism art movement. His artistic talents were recognized when he was a young boy, and he was enrolled in art school where he studied the French masters. His earliest influences were Camille Pissarro and Édouard Manet.
Like his fellow Impressionist artists, Renoir’s work was repeatedly rejected from the Paris Salon, as it was seen as too unconventional in style. This forced him and his fellow artist friends to launch the very first Impressionist art exhibition in 1874. Renoir had several pieces at this very first show, which launched his career and gave him the world recognition he was seeking. Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s art is known for its bright and saturated colors. In his early adult career, most of Renoir’s pieces were almost like windows into his social world, often full of light and joy, and showing dances, rowing, eating, picnics, etc.
Although he is known for his impressionism of the 1870s, Renoir had a minor crisis after achieving fame. Later in his life, he wrote to the art dealer, Ambroise Vollard, “A sort of break came in my work about 1883. I had wrung Impressionism dry, and I finally came to the conclusion that I knew neither how to paint nor draw”. Between 1881 and 1882, in an attempt to refocus his art and reinspire his work, Renoir took a trip to Algeria, Spain, and Italy, visiting the major art centers of Madrid, Rome, Florence, Venice, and Naples among other places. He was inspired by seeing the work of the Renaissance masters, particularly Michelangelo, Titian, and Raphael with their rich colors and the figurative work of Diego Velazquez.
After returning to France, Renoir’s art changed to a more naturalistic and classical style, known as his “dry” or “Ingres period”. This period is named after the French Neoclassical artist, Jean-Auguste Dominique Ingres, in which he found his favorite subject, the female nude. Renoir abandoned landscapes and working en plein air to spend more time in the studio on paintings of the female body. Renoir’s art shifted from the loose impressionism brush strokes and a lighter color palette to more solid lines and vivid colors. During this time, he outlined his figures with bold lines, and spent more time on composition and form rather than color. Though this period of his work was not liked by all, including Edgar Degas, it was much loved by Berthe Morisot. By 1890, he had returned to painting in the Impressionism style with a lighter palette with soft brushworks and blurred lines.
In 1890, Renoir married a dressmaker, Aline Charigot, who he often used as a model in his work. He also often used Aline’s cousin, Gabrielle Renard. Renoir and Aline already had one son together, and then an additional two more sons after their marriage. Each child grew up to be an artist in their own right. They would remain together for the rest of their lives. In 1896, Renoir moved his family to Cagnes-sur-Mer in southern France. In 1905, they started building their dream home, which they fondly called “Les Collettes”. They would remain there for the rest of their lives.
In the later years of his life, Renoir developed rheumatoid arthritis, though this did not deter his work and he painted through to the end of his life, often taping his paintbrush to his stiff fingers. By 1910, he lost the use of his legs and was confined to a wheelchair. Aline Renoir died in 1915 at 56 years old. Pierre-Auguste Renoir died just four years later in 1919 at 78 years old.
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