Pierre August Renoir

b. February 25, 1841 and died December 3, 1919

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French painter and leading proponent in the development of the Impressionist style. Born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France and studied under Charles Gleyre in Paris where he met Sisley, Monet, and Bazille, consequently exhibiting at the Paris Salon in the 1864 followed by the first Impressionist Exhibition in 1874. Initially influenced by the colorism and luminosity of Delacroix and Corort as well as the realism exemplified by Courbet and Maner, his point of inspiration shifted to that of the Impressionists, depicting fleeting moments of real life.

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. Details within Renoir’s paintings are suggested through freely brushed touches of color. Working en plein air style allowed for a transient effect of light. After 1890, however, he changed direction again, returning to the use of thinly brushed color which dissolved outlines as in his earlier work. From this period onward he concentrated especially on monumental nudes and domestic scenes. 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.