Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born on 25th February
1841. He was one of the greatest of all French painters and a leading light in
the Impressionist movement.
He was born in Limoges in central France, which is a
well-known centre of the porcelain industry. It was as a painter of porcelain
that Renoir first exhibited his talents. He moved to Paris and became a pupil
in the studio of Charles Gleyre, his fellow pupils including Albert Sisley,
Frederic Bazille and Claude Monet.
It was while working alongside Monet that he developed a new
style of painting that used broken brush strokes as a means of capturing
dappled light effects in landscape painting. This style became known as
Impressionism.
Renoir exhibited at the first three Impressionist
exhibitions and went on to develop his style in interior scenes that portrayed
the bustle of Parisian life, as well as painting sunlit meadows and gardens,
and portraits.
He later became disillusioned with Impressionism, which he
regarded as being too limited, and concentrated instead on painting nudes, as
in his series of “Bathers” canvases that were influenced by classical models.
In later life he retired to the Mediterranean coast, where
his nudes became more voluptuous, in the style of Titian or Rubens. He
continued to paint to the end of life, even when his hands were crippled by
arthritis and he had to have his brushes tied on by an assistant.
Renoir died in December 1919 at the age of 78.
© John Welford
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