Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir apprenticed as a porcelain painter before pursuing his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1864, Renoir crossed paths with fellow artists Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley while working at the Atelier Gleyer. Throughout the 1860s, he created more conventional, polished artworks for presentation at the Paris Salons, all the while exploring looser, private works.

The distinctive hallmarks of Impressionism, including a keen attention to light, saturated colors, and rapid, gestural brushstrokes, are profoundly evident in the historic series of landscapes that Renoir and Monet collaborated on in the late 1860s at La Grenouillière along the Seine. In the early 1870s, Renoir relocated to the heart of Paris, where he devoted his art to capturing scenes of contemporary urban life over the next decade.

Renoir actively participated in the inaugural and subsequent Impressionist exhibitions held in 1874 and 1876, which, despite facing harsh criticism, successfully challenged the dominance of the Salon exhibitions. In the following decade, he distanced himself from the group, opting to create more closed and refined compositions inspired by the classical art he encountered during a trip to Italy. Critically, these works are regarded as some of his less successful pieces. In the 1890s, Renoir returned to his hallmark style, characterized by broad, loose brushstrokes, warm colors, and the portrayal of sensual figures, for which he was most renowned.

As he approached the twilight of his life, Renoir battled rheumatoid arthritis, which progressively hindered his ability to paint. Nevertheless, his body of work had, by then, achieved acclaim as one of the most significant contributions to French art in the 19th century. Renoir’s artistic creations find their place in esteemed collections.