Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), son of a tailor and a seamstress, began as a porcelain painter before joining Charles Gleyre’s studio where he met Monet, Sisley, and Bazille. His artistic trajectory, marked by a constant exploration of light and the human figure, oscillated between loyalty to impressionist principles and a return to more classical forms, as in his ‘Ingres-like’ period.
Undisputed master of female portraiture and scenes of modern Parisian life, Renoir developed a unique style where the sensuality of bodies blends with a vaporous and shimmering touch. Despite the rheumatism that cruelly deformed his hands at the end of his life, he never stopped painting, stating that ‘pain passes, but beauty remains,’ a vibrant testimony to that inextinguishable passion for painting that defined his entire existence.
