Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in 1841 in Limoges, France, but his family soon moved to Paris, the center of the late-nineteenth century art world (Pach, 1983). Born into the working class, at the age of thirteen he began working as a painter of ceramics; once he saved up enough money, he attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, where he made friends with Claude Monet, Frederic Bazille and Alfred Sisley. Over the next few years, the four former students of the Ecole de Beaux-Arts were joined by Edourd Manet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, and Camille Pissarro. These forward-thinking artists discussed their dissatisfaction with the Salon’s stubborn preference for mythological themes in painting. The Impressionists felt that they should be painting scenes from everyday life on the Parisian streets. Some also felt that more painting should be done outside, because it was difficult to portray natural sunlight in the studio.
Perhaps Renoir’s own reasons for wanting to abandon classical Roman themes for daily life sprang from his working class background. In my opinion he wanted to convey the beauty he saw in common people and nature through his artwork, not just beauty that had been officially sanctioned as “high art.”
Although he and his friends were rejecting the establishment, the object of their rebellion was simply to create what they considered better art. For Renoir, that simply meant art that was more beautiful; he never tried to put meanings into his paintings. In fact, he deliberately avoided painting narrative pictures or allegories. His paintings are all instantaneous and vivid, hiding no subtext or symbolism. Additionally, he did not paint scenes of gloom, despair or pain of any kind. He freely altered the bodies and faces of his subjects to be more pleasing, and he often edited out the dirt and grime of everyday Paris living. When writing about the purpose of painting, Renoir said that he believed that paintings were meant to be pretty; that was their purpose as decorations.
This desire to paint what was beautiful was what inspired Renoir to develop and adopt Impressionism. His paintings that I most enjoy are those he painted when he was most involved with the Impressionists. For example, the painting of the Ball at the Moulin de la Galette, in 1876, is one of my favorites. Throughout the composition, Renoir successfully conveys the air of congeniality and festivity of the place, while also infusing a strong sense of movement and activity. In its entirety, the painting is enjoyable to look at and aesthetically pleasing. My other favorite from this period is the Luncheon of the Boating Party. Once again, Renoir achieved what he aimed for: a joyous, beautiful picture.
Renoir’s radical style was began to gain some acceptance, at long last. However, towards the 1880s, he began to experience some doubts about where he was going with Impressionism. He took a vacation in Italy and it was there that he saw the works of the classical masters, and became convinced that he had been going about painting all wrong.
The ensuing few years became known as his “sour” period. He decided to imitate Raphael and the great masters, and return to line and modeling instead of patches of color and light. From 1881 to 1888, he experimented with this concept, and in 1886 he unveiled his new style, displayed in his large Bathers picture. It was met with distress and criticism.
After the initial experiment, he eventually integrated his new respect for shading and line with his fantastic eye for color and his flowing Impressionist brushstrokes. Simply look at the painting Gathering flowers, from 1890. The country landscape, in tones of autumn gold and green, flows subtly towards the village ahead, and recalls Renoir’s earlier work. Meanwhile, the two girls have a solidity and roundness that comes directly from his handling of shading and form, and it seems like you could reach out and touch them. In fact, this effect is exactly what Renoir hoped for in his paintings. “I like a painting which makes me want to stroll in it, if it is a landscape,” he once said, “or to stroke a breast or a back, if it is a figure.”
His style continued to evolve, but it never regressed; he was always moving forward. Unfortunately, at the age of sixty, he began to have attacks of arthritis that eventually confined him to a wheelchair, but he never stopped painting until his death in 1919. When he could no longer hold a brush in his rheumatic fingers, he had a brush tied to his hand. He is quoted as having said the day before he died, “I am still making progress.” His love of art and beauty is evident in all his works, and his legacy lives on today.
Prompts1. Do you agree with Renoir that art should be beautiful for beauty’s sake, or do you think that art should have deeper meaning? Explain.
2. Do you favor Renoir’s Impressionist style or his later, more classical style? Why?
3. Was there anything about Renoir that intrigued you, or that you wanted to know more about?
4. Write about whether or not you think Renoir achieved his quest of finding “true painting.” Explain your reasons.
The Bathers, 1887. 118 x 171 cm
Nini in the Garden, 1876. 62 x 51 cm
Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881. 130 x 173 cm
Le Moulin de la Gallete, 1876. 131 x 175 cm%5B1%5D.jpg)
La Loge (The Theater Box), 1874. 80 x 63 cm 