(b. Feb. 25, 1841, Limoges, France--d.
Dec. 3, 1919, Cagnes)
French painter originally associated with the Impressionist
movement. His early works were typically Impressionist snapshots of real life,
full of sparkling colour and light. By the mid-1880s, however, he had broken
with the movement to apply a more disciplined, formal technique to portraits
and figure paintings, particularly of women (e.g. , Bathers,
1884-87).
In 1854 he began work as a painter in a porcelain factory in Paris, gaining
experience with the light, fresh colors that were to distinguish his Impressionist
work and also learning the importance of good craftsmanship. His predilection
towards light-hearted themes was also influenced by the great Rococco masters,
whose works he studied in the Louvre. In 1862 he entered the studio of Gleyre
and there formed a lasting friendship with Monet, Sisley, and Bazille. He painted
with them in the Barbizon district and became a leading member of the group
of Impressionists who met at the Café Guerbois. His relationship with
Monet was particularly close at this time, and their paintings of the beauty
spot called La Grenouillère done in 1869 (an example by Renoir is in
the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm) are regarded as the classic early statements
of the Impressionist style. Like Monet, Renoir endured much hardship early
in his career, but he began to achieve success as a portraitist in the late
1870s and was freed from financial worries after the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel
began buying his work regularly in 1881. By this time Renoir had 'travelled
as far as Impressionism could take me', and a visit to Italy in 1881-82 inspired
him to seek a greater sense of solidarity in his work. The change in attitude
is seen in The Umbrellas
(NG, London), which was evidently begun before the visit to Italy and finished
afterwards; the two little girls on the right are painted with the feathery
brush-strokes characteristic of his Impressionist manner, but the figures
on the left are done in a crisper and drier style, with duller coloring. After
a period of experimentation with what he called his `manière aigre'
(harsh or sour manner) in the mid 1880s, he developed a softer and more supple
kind of handling. At the same time he turned from contemporary themes to
more timeless subjects, particularly nudes, but also pictures of young girls
in unspecific settings. As his style became grander and simpler he also took
up mythological subjects (The Judgement of Paris; Hiroshima
Museum of Art; 1913-14), and the female type he preferred became more mature
and ample. In the 1890s Renoir began to suffer from rheumatism, and from
1903 (by which time he was world-famous) he lived in the warmth of the south
of France. The rheumatism eventually crippled him (by 1912 he was confined
to a wheelchair), but he continued to paint until the end of his life, and
in his last years he also took up sculpture, directing assistants (usually
Richard Guino, a pupil of Maillol) to act as his hands (Venus Victorious;
Tate, London; 1914).
Renois is perhaps the best-loved of all the Impressionists, for his subjects---pretty children, flowers, beautiful scenes, above all lovely women---have instant appeal, and he communicated the joy he took in them with great directness. `Why shouldn't art be pretty?', he said, `There are enough unpleasant things in the world.' He was one of the great worshippers of the female form, and he said `I never think I have finished a nude until I think I could pinch it.' One of his sons was the celebrated film director Jean Renoir(1894-1979), who wrote a lively and touching biography (Renoir, My Father) in 1962.
