| |
 All About Art
Renoir And Impressionism
Pierre Auguste Renoir (pronounced ren-war) was born on February 25, 1841 in France. As a young boy, he liked to draw on the floor with chalk. He began painting at the age of 13 in a porcelain factory where he decorated plates. He became one of the worlds best-known and best-loved Impressionist painters. 
Impressionism was a style of painting that began in France during the 1870s. This type of painting concentrated on the immediate visual feeling produced by a scene. Impressionist painters used unmixed primary colors and small strokes to give the effect of reflected light. Impressionist painters often painted outside and tried to capture the changing light on their subject or landscape.
The early works of Renoir were typical Impressionist paintings, and depicted real-life scenes using vibrant color and light. His figures were softened and sometimes appeared slightly out of focus. In the 1880s, Renoir began doing more portraits and figure paintings, particularly of women. He loved to paint pretty things, and his subjects were often pretty children, full-figured women, flowers and other beautiful scenes.
For the last 30 years of his life, Renoir suffered from rheumatism, which eventually left him confined to a wheel chair. He continued to paint until the end of his life, and even took up sculpture in his last years using an assistant to be his hands. The day he died he painted a picture of flowers.
Sources: Nicholas Pioch, WebMuseum, www.ibiblio.org/wm; Powell, Kirsten H., Renoir, Pierre Auguste, The New Book of Knowledge. Scholastic Library Publishing.
|
 |
