   | birth_place      = Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France | deathdate     =  | deathplace    = Cagnes-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France | nationality   = French | field         = Painting | movement      = Impressionism | works         = ''Bal du moulin de la Galette'', 1876''Luncheon of the Boating Party'', 1880''Nude'', 1910 | patrons       =  | awards        =  }} '''Pierre-Auguste Renoir''' (; 25 February 18413 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that &quot;Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau.&quot;Read, Herbert: ''The Meaning of Art'', page 127. Faber, 1931.  ==Biography== ===Youth=== 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 talents led to him being chosen to paint designs on fine china.Renoir, Jean: ''Renoir, My Father'', pages 57–67. Collins, 1962. He also painted hangings for overseas missionaries and decorations on fans before he enrolled in art school.Vollard, Ambroise: ''Renoir, An Intimate Record'', pages 24–29. Knopf, 1925. During those early years, he often visited the Louvre to study the French master painters.  The Theater Box'', 1874 by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London]] In 1862, he began studying art under Charles Gleyre in Paris. There he met Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille, and Claude Monet.Vollard, page 30. At times during the 1860s, he did not have enough money to buy paint. Although Renoir first started exhibiting paintings at the Paris Salon in 1864,Wadley, Nicholas: ''Renoir, A Retrospective'', page 15. Park Lane, 1989. recognition did not come for another ten years, due, in part, to the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War.  During the Paris Commune in 1871, while he painted on the banks of the Seine River, some ''Communards'' thought he was a spy, and were about to throw him into the river when a leader of the ''Commune'', Raoul Rigault, recognized Renoir as the man who had protected him on an earlier occasion.Renoir, Jean, pages 118–21. Different and less life-threatening versions are offered by Paul Valéry and Vollard. In all accounts, however, their re-acquaintance led to great celebration.  In 1874, a ten-year friendship with Jules Le Cœur and his family ended,Wadley, page 15. and Renoir lost not only the valuable support gained by the association, but a generous welcome to stay on their property near Fontainebleau and its scenic forest. This loss of a favorite painting location resulted in a distinct change of subjects.  ===Maturity=== Renoir experienced his initial acclaim when six of his paintings were hung in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. In the same year, two of his works were shown with Durand-Ruel in London.  ''The Swing (La Balançoire)'', 1876, oil on canvas, [[Musée d'Orsay, Paris]]  In 1881, he traveled to Algeria, a country he associated with Eugène Delacroix,Poulet, A. L., &amp; Murphy, A. R. (1979). ''Corot to Braque: French Paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston'', page 117. Boston: The Museum. ISBN 0-87846-134-5. then to Madrid, to see the work of Diego Velázquez. Following that, he traveled to Italy to see Titian's masterpieces in Florence and the paintings of Raphael in Rome. On 15 January 1882 Renoir met the composer Richard Wagner at his home in Palermo, Sicily. Renoir painted Wagner's portrait in just thirty-five minutes. In the same year, Renoir convalesced for six weeks in Algeria after contracting pneumonia, which permanently damaged his respiratory system.Wadley, page 25.   In 1883, he spent the summer in Guernsey, creating fifteen paintings in little over a month. Most of these feature Moulin Huet, a bay in Saint Martin's, Guernsey. Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel, and it has a varied landscape that includes beaches, cliffs, bays, forests, and mountains. These paintings were the subject of a set of commemorative postage stamps issued by the Bailiwick of Guernsey in 1983.  While living and working in Montmartre, Renoir employed as a model Suzanne Valadon, who posed for him (''The Bathers'', 1885–87; ''Dance at Bougival'', 1883)Wadley, pages 371, 374. and many of his fellow painters while studying their techniques; eventually she became one of the leading painters of the day.   In 1887, the year when Queen Victoria celebrated her Golden Jubilee, and upon the request of the queen's associate, Phillip Richbourg, he donated several paintings to the &quot;French Impressionist Paintings&quot; catalog as a token of his loyalty.  In 1890, he married Aline Victorine Charigot, who, along with a number of the artist's friends, had already served as a model for ''Le Déjeuner des canotiers'' (Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881), and with whom he already had a child, Pierre, in 1885. After his marriage, Renoir painted many scenes of his wife and daily family life, including their children and their nurse, Aline's cousin Gabrielle Renard. The Renoirs had three sons, one of whom, Jean, became a filmmaker of note and another, Pierre, became a stage and film actor.  ''Girls at the Piano'', 1892, by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, [[Musée d'Orsay, Paris.]]  ===Later years=== Around 1892, Renoir developed rheumatoid arthritis. In 1907, he moved to the warmer climate of &quot;Les Collettes,&quot; a farm at Cagnes-sur-Mer, close to the Mediterranean coast.Wadley, page 28. Renoir painted during the last twenty years of his life, even when arthritis severely limited 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. It has often been reported that in the advanced stages of his arthritis, he painted by having a brush strapped to his paralyzed fingers,André, Albert: ''Renoir''. Crés, 1928. but this is erroneous; Renoir remained able to grasp a brush, although he required an assistant to place it in his hand.[ Boonen, A.; van de Rest, J.; Dequeker, J.; van der Linden, S.: &quot;How Renoir Coped with Rheumatoid Arthritis&quot;. ''British Medical Journal'', 1997:315:1704–1708.] The wrapping of his hands with bandages, apparent in late photographs of the artist, served to prevent skin irritation.  During this period, he created sculptures by cooperating with a young artist, Richard Guino, who worked the clay. Renoir also used a moving canvas, or picture roll, to facilitate painting large works with his limited joint mobility.  In 1919, Renoir visited the Louvre to see his paintings hanging with those of the old masters. He died in the village of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, on December 3.  ==Artworks== ''Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette ([[Bal du moulin de la Galette)'', 1876, Pierre-Auguste Renoir|250px]]   Renoir's paintings are notable for their vibrant light and saturated color, most often focusing on people in intimate and candid compositions. The female nude was one of his primary subjects. In characteristic Impressionist style, Renoir suggested the details of a scene through freely brushed touches of color, so that his figures softly fuse with one another and their surroundings.  His initial paintings show the influence of the colorism of Eugène Delacroix and the luminosity of Camille Corot. He also admired the realism of Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet, and his early work resembles theirs in his use of black as a color. As well, Renoir admired Edgar Degas' sense of movement. Another painter Renoir greatly admired was the 18th century master François Boucher.Rey, Robert: ''La Peinture française à la fin du XIXe siècle, la renaissance du sentiment classique : Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat'', Les Beaux-Arts, Van Oest, 1931 (thesis).  A fine example of Renoir's early work, and evidence of the influence of Courbet's realism, is ''Diana'', 1867. Ostensibly a mythological subject, the painting is a naturalistic studio work, the figure carefully observed, solidly modeled, and superimposed upon a contrived landscape. If the work is still a 'student' piece, already Renoir's heightened personal response to female sensuality is present. The model was Lise Tréhot, then the artist's mistress and inspiration for a number of paintings.[ &quot;From the Tour: Mary Cassatt&quot;], August Renoir. Accessed 7 March 2007.  In the late 1860s, through the practice of painting light and water ''en plein air'' (in the open air), he and his friend Claude Monet discovered that the color of shadows is not brown or black, but the reflected color of the objects surrounding them, an effect today known as diffuse reflection. Several pairs of paintings exist in which Renoir and Monet, working side-by-side, depicted the same scenes (''La Grenouillère'', 1869).[:commons:File:Renoir11.jpg ] Wikimedia Commons at commons.wikimedia.orgClaude Monet La GrenouillÃre – Wikimedia Commons] at commons.wikimedia.org   One of the best known Impressionist works is Renoir's 1876 ''Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (Bal du moulin de la Galette)''. The painting depicts an open-air scene, crowded with people, at a popular dance garden on the ''Butte Montmartre'', close to where he lived.''On the Terrace'', oil on canvas, 1881, [[Art Institute of Chicago]] The works of his early maturity 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, such as ''The Bathers'', which was created during 1884–87. It was a trip to Italy in 1881, when he saw works by Raphael and other Renaissance masters, that convinced him that he was on the wrong path, and for the next several years he painted in a more severe style, in an attempt to return to classicism.Clark, Kenneth: ''The Nude'', pages 154–61. Penguin, 1960. This is sometimes called his &quot;Ingres period&quot;, as he concentrated on his drawing and emphasized the outlines of figures.Asked late in life if he felt an affinity to Ingres, he responded: &quot;I should very much like to&quot;. Rey, quoted in Wadley, page 336.   After 1890, however, he changed direction again, returning to thinly brushed color to dissolve outlines as in his earlier work. From this period onward he concentrated especially on monumental nudes and domestic scenes, fine examples of which are ''Girls at the Piano'', 1892, and ''Grandes Baigneuses'', 1887. The latter painting is the most typical and successful of Renoir's late, abundantly fleshed nudes.&quot; For me, Renoir becomes a really great artist in the late nudes, above all in ''Les Grandes Baigneuses''&quot;. David Sylvester, quoted by Wadley, page 378.   A prolific artist, he made several thousand paintings. The warm sensuality of Renoir's style made his paintings some of the most well-known and frequently-reproduced works in the history of art. The single largest collection of his works—181 paintings in all—is at the Barnes Foundation, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  ==Posthumous prints== In 1919, Ambroise Vollard, a renowned art dealer, published a book on the life and work of Renoir, ''La Vie et l'Œuvre de Pierre-Auguste Renoir'', in an edition of 1000 copies. In 1986, Vollard's heirs started reprinting the copper plates, generally etchings with hand applied watercolor. These prints are signed by Renoir in the plate and are embossed “Vollard” in the old fashion low margin. They are unnumbered, undated and not signed in pencil.  ==Posthumous sales== Two of Renoir's paintings have sold for more than US$70&amp;nbsp;million.  ''Bal au moulin de la Galette'' sold for $78.1&amp;nbsp;million in 1990.  ==Gallery==  File:Lise Sewing - 1866.jpg|''Lise Sewing'', 1866, Dallas Museum of Art File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Julie Manet.jpg|''Julie Manet with cat,'' 1867 File:Renoir11.jpg|''La Grenouillère'', 1868, National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 110.jpg|''Portrait of Alfred Sisley'', 1868  File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 083.jpg|''Claude Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil'', 1873, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 112.jpg|''Portrait of Claude Monet'', 1875, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France File:Pierre Auguste Renoir Jeanne Durand Ruel.jpg|''Jeanne Durand-Ruel,'' 1876, Barnes Foundation Merion, Pennsylvania File:A Girl with a Watering Can.JPG|''A Girl with a Watering Can'', 1876, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 094.jpg|''Mme. Charpentier and her children'', 1878, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ''Portrait of Alphonsine Fournaise,'' 1879, [[Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France]] File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - By the Water.jpg|''By the Water'', 1880, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois File:Dejeuner-canotiers.jpg|''Luncheon of the Boating Party'', 1880–1881, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 107.jpg|''Portrait of Charles and Georges Durand-Ruel'', 1882 File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 146.jpg|''Dance at Bougival'', 1882–1883, (woman at left is painter Suzanne Valadon), Boston Museum of Fine Arts File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 019.jpg|''Dance in the City,'' 1882–1883, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Danse à la campagne.jpg|''Dance in the Country'' (''Aline Charigot and Paul Lhote''), 1883, Musée d'Orsay, Paris File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Study for 'Dance in the Country', pencil, 1883.jpg|Pencil study for ''Dance in the Country'' 1883, Honolulu Academy of Arts File:Renoir16.jpg|''Children at the Beach at Guernsey,'' 1883, Barnes Foundation Merion, Pennsylvania File:Pierre Auguste Renoir Jeune garcon sur la plage d Yport.jpg|Pierre-Auguste Renoir, &quot;Jeune garçon sur la plage d'Yport&quot; (1883), Barnes Foundation Merion, Pennsylvania File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - In the Garden.jpg|''In the Garden,'' 1885, Hermitage St. Petersburg File:Girl with a Hoop.JPG|''Girl With a Hoop'', 1885, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Girl Braiding Her Hair (Suzanne Valadon).jpg|''Girl Braiding Her Hair (Suzanne Valadon)'', 1885 File:Pierre Auguste Renoir - Portrait Berthe Morisot and daughter Julie.jpg|''Portrait of Berthe Morisot and daughter Julie Manet'', 1894 File:RenoirGabrielleJean.jpg|''Gabrielle Renard and infant son Jean Renoir'', 1895 File:Pierre Auguste Renoir La famille d artiste.jpg|''The Artist's Family'', 1896, The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania ''Graziella'', 1896,The Detroit Institute of Arts File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Ambroise Vollard.jpg|''Portrait of Ambroise Vollard'', 1908 File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 113.jpg|''Portrait of Paul Durand-Ruel'', 1910 File:Ambroise Vollard by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.jpg|''Portrait of Ambroise Vollard'', 1917   ==Self-portraits==  File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Autoportrait, 1875.jpg|''Self-portrait'', (1875) File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Autoportrait (1876).jpg|''Self-portrait'', (1876) File:Renoir Self-Portrait 1910.jpg|''Self-portrait'', 1910 File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Autoportrait 5.JPG|''Self-portrait'', (1910)   ==Nudes==  File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 020.jpg|''Diana the Huntress,'' 1867, The National Gallery of Art Washington, DC File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Torse, effet de soleil.jpg|''Nude In The Sun,'' 1875, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France File:Renoir15.jpg|''Seating Girl,'' 1883 File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 021.jpg|''The Large Bathers,'' 1887, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pa. File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 085.jpg|''After The Bath,'' 1888 File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Trois Baigneuses au crabe.jpg|''Three Bathers,'' 1895, Cleveland Museum of Art Cleveland, Ohio File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Femme nue couchée (Gabrielle).jpg|''Woman on a Couch (Gabrielle),'' 1906–1907 File:Renoir18.jpg|''After The Bath,'' 1910, Barnes Foundation, Merion Pennsylvania File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir 030.jpg|''Woman At The Well,'' 1910 File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Baigneuse assise s'essuyant une jambe.jpg|''Seated Bather Drying Her Leg,'' 1914, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, France File:Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Femmes au bain.jpg|''Women Bathers,'' 1916, National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden File:Pierre Auguste Renoir Les baigneuses.jpg|''Bathers,'' 1918, Barnes Foundation, Merion Pennsylvania   ==Selected works==  *''Mademoiselle Romaine Lacaux'' (1864) *''La Promenade'' (1870) *''Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil'' (1873) *''La Loge'' (1874) *''The Dancer'' (1874) *''Woman with Fan'' (1875) *''The Swing'' (1876) *''Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (The Rowers' Lunch)'' (1875) *''Girl with a Watering Can'' (1876) *''Bal du moulin de la Galette'' (1876) *''Nude in the Sunlight'' (1876) *''At the Theatre (La Première Sortie)'' (1877) *''Madame Charpentier and Her Children'' (1878) *''Jeanne Samary'' (1879) *''Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando (Francisca and Angelina Wartenberg)'' (1879) *''Two Women with Umbrellas'' (1879) *''On the Terrace'' (1881) *''Luncheon of the Boating Party'' (1881) *''The Piazza San Marco, Venice'' (1881) *''Blonde Bather'' (1881) *''Alice and Elisabeth Cahen d'Anvers (Pink and Blue)'' (1881) *''By the Seashore'' (1883) *''Umbrellas'' (1883) *''Dance at Bougival'' (1883) *''Fog at Guernsey'' (1883) *''Dance in the City'' (1883) *''Children on the Sea Shore in Guernsey'' (1883) *''The Bay of Moulin Huet Seen Through the Trees'' (1883) *''Girl with a Hoop'' (1885) *''Bathers'' (1887) *''The Bather (After the Bath)'' (1888) *''Young Girl with Daisies'' (1889) *''In the Meadow'' (1890) *''The Apple Sellers'' (1890) *''Two Girls at the Piano'' (1892) *''Vase of Chrysanthemums'' (1895) *''Coco'' (1905) *''Standing Bather'' (1906) *''Nude'' (1910) *''The Farm at Les Collettes, Cagnes'' (1908–1914) *''The Concert'' (1918)    ==Bibliography== *  *  *  *  *  *   