Details

Name

Pierre Auguste Renoir

Brief Biography

1841 - 1919, French

Occupation

Artist

Description

Renoir is unanimously considered as one of the most brilliant exponents of Impressionism. His art, unlike that of Cézanne or Monet, did not point out new paths for the future, but exulted in the pure joy of painting and recording the happiness of a moment. He was the first of the Impressionists to find success, rarely being rejected from the Salon.

He trained as a porcelain painter, then in 1862 studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and attended Gleyre’s studio where he met Monet, Bazille and Sisley. That same year he met and was encouraged by Diaz. He first exhibited at the Salon of 1864. Landscape played an important role in his early work, though he later concentrated increasingly on the female nude. During the Franco-Prussian War he served in the 10th Cavalry Regiment. He participated in the first three Impressionist exhibitions and again in the seventh but thereafter preferred to show at the Salon. He was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1900.

Throughout his life Renoir was a committed craftsman and was always open to change: ‘‘I love paint to be oily, unctuous, as smooth as possible. It’s for that reason that I love oil paintings so much. To arrive at the results I have been searching for…and that I seek still, I’ve tried every process… I could never be reproached for shutting myself up in a system.’’

In the last years of his life, during an interview, Renoir said: ‘’Nowadays they want to explain everything. But if they could explain a picture it wouldn’t be art. Shall I tell you what I think are the two qualities of a work of art? It must be indescribable, and it must be inimitable…The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself, carry you away. It is the means by which the artist conveys his passion..’’