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Auguste Renoir-Biography

French painter originally associated with the Impressionist movement. His early works 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.

In 1854 he began work as a painter in a porcelain factory in Paris, gaining experience with the light, fresh colors that were to
distinguish his Impressionist work and also learning the importance of good craftsmanship. His predilection towards light-hearted
themes was also influenced by the great Rococco masters, whose works he studied in the Louvre. In 1862 he entered the studio
of Gleyre and there formed a lasting friendship with Monet, Sisley, and Bazille. He painted with them in the Barbizon district and
became a leading member of the group of Impressionists who met at the Café Guerbois. His relationship with Monet was
particularly close at this time, and their paintings of the beauty spot called La Grenouillère done in 1869 are regarded as the classic
early statements of the Impressionist style.

Like Monet, Renoir endured much hardship early in his career, but he began to achieve success as a portraitist in the late 1870s and
was freed from financial worries after the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel began buying his work regularly in 1881. By this time Renoir had
"travelled as far as Impressionism could take me"', and a visit to Italy in 1881-82 inspired him to seek a greater sense of solidarity in his
work. After a period of experimentation with what he called his "harsh or sour" manner in the mid 1880s, he developed a softer and
more supple kind of handling. At the same time he turned from contemporary themes to more timeless subjects, particularly nudes,
but also pictures of young girls in unspecific settings.

As his style became grander and simpler he also took up mythological subjects and the female type he preferred became more mature
and ample. In the 1890s Renoir began to suffer from rheumatism, and from 1903 (by which time he was world-famous) he lived in the
warmth of the south of France. The rheumatism eventually crippled him, but he continued to paint until the end of his life.