Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25, 1841 – December 3, 1919) was a French artist who painted in the impressionist style.

Biography

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France, the child of a working class family. As a boy, he worked in a porcelain factory where his drawing talent led to him painting designs on china. He worked painting hangings for overseas missionaries, and painting on fans before he enrolled in art school. During those years, he often visited the Louvre to study the French master painters.

Related Topics:
Limoges - Haute-Vienne - France - Working class - Porcelain - Louvre

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In 1862 he began studying art under Charles Gleyre in Paris. There he met Alfred Sisley, Frederic Bazille and Claude Monet. At times during the 1860s, he did not have enough money to buy paints.

Related Topics:
1862 - Art - Charles Gleyre - Paris - Alfred Sisley - Frederic Bazille - Claude Monet - 1860s

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Although Renoir first exhibited paintings in 1864, recognition did not come for another 10 years due, in part, to the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War.

Related Topics:
1864 - Franco-Prussian War

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During the Paris Commune in 1871, while he painted by the Seine River, a Commune group thought he was spying and they were about to throw him in the river when a Commune leader, Raoul Rigault, recognized Renoir as the man who protected him on an earlier occasion.

Related Topics:
Paris Commune - 1871 - Seine River

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In the mid-1870s, he experienced his first acclaim his work hung in the first impressionist exhibition (1874).

Related Topics:
1870s - 1874

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While living and working in Montmartre, Renoir engaged in an affair with his model, Suzanne Valadon, who became one of the leading female artists of the day. Later, he married Aline Victorine Charigot, and they had three sons, one of whom, Jean Renoir, became a filmmaker. After marrying his work changed. He became as interested in painting people as he was in painting landscapes.

Related Topics:
Montmartre - Model - Suzanne Valadon - Jean Renoir

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In 1881 he traveled to Algeria, a country he associated with Eugène Delacroix, then to Madrid, Spain to see the work of Diego Velázquez, also to Italy to see Titian's masterpieces in Florence, and the paintings of Raphael in Rome. On January 15, 1882 Renoir met composer Richard Wagner at his home in Palermo, Sicily. Renoir painted Wagner's portrait in just 35 minutes.

Related Topics:
1881 - Algeria - Eugène Delacroix - Madrid, Spain - Diego Velázquez - Italy - Titian - Florence - Raphael - Rome - January 15 - 1882 - Richard Wagner - Palermo - Sicily

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Around 1892, Renoir developed rheumatoid arthritis. In 1907, he moved to the warmer climate of "Les Collettes," a farm at Cagnes-sur-Mer, close to the Mediterranean coast. Renoir painted even during the last 20 years of his life when rheumatoid arthritis severely hampered his movement, and he was wheelchair-bound. He developed progressive deformities in his hands and ankylosis of his right shoulder, requiring him to adapt his painting technique. In the advanced stages of his arthritis, he painted by strapping a brush to his arm, and created sculptures by directing an assistant who worked the clay. Renoir also utilized a moving canvas or picture roll to facilitate painting large works with his limited joint mobility.

Related Topics:
Rheumatoid arthritis - 1907 - Mediterranean - Sculpture

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In 1919, Renoir visited the Louvre to see his paintings hanging with the old masters.

Related Topics:
1919 - Louvre

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir died in the village of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, on December 3, 1919.

Related Topics:
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - December 3 - 1919

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Two of Renoir's paintings have sold for more than $70 million. Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre sold for $78.1 million in 1990.

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