Pierre Auguste Renoir
1841-1919
Impressionist
For this presentation you will need:
(Available reproductions and supplemental boards in the vertical art storage rack to the right of the
cabinet.)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Girl with a Watering Can (1876) (mounted reproduction)
In The Meadow (1888-92) (mounted reproduction)
Woman in a Boat with Canoeist (1877) (laminated large print)
Madame Charpentier and Her Children (1878) (laminated small print in gray folder)
Tilla Durieux (1914) (laminated small print in gray folder)
The Umbrellas (1880-81, 1885-86 - painted in two phases) (laminated small print in gray folder)
Elements of Art Boards in clear plastic bag
In the black cabinet you will find a white binder with a copy of the current presentation, printouts of
Bal du Le Moulin de la Galette (Renoir’s most expensive painting), and Infanta Margarita Teresa in
a Blue Dress by Diego Velazquez and Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (for portrait comparison
purposes) and some additional reference materials.
Updated November 4, 2014
Pierre Auguste Renoir
2 Personal Information Name:
Nationality:
Born:
Died:
Lived:
Family:
Pierre August Renoir
French
February 25, 1841 in Limoges, France
December 3, 1919 in Cagnes, France
Renoir lived in and around Paris most of the early part of his life. In the 1870’s he
moved from Paris to Montmartre, at the time, a city just north of Paris (now part of
Paris). The area was full of life and many other artists. He lived in Montmartre
until 1902 when he, his wife, and three children moved to Cannet a town in
southern France near Cannes. From 1905-1909 they settled in Cagnes and built a
house on a piece of land called “Les Collettes.” His wife Aline died in 1915, and
Renoir died in 1919.
He met Aline Charigot in 1880, and they were married in 1890. They had three
children – Pierre (born 1885), Jean (born 1894), and Claude (born 1901).
Professional Information
Type of artist:
Impressionist – A phrase coined by a journalist who described the type of work as
“Impressions” because the paintings tried to recreate an impression rather than an
exact replica of a scene. Impressionists also tended to paint with bright colors and
used quick brush strokes.
Style/Technique:
Although Renoir is seen as a master impressionist, he went through several artistic
styles during his lifetime. Prior to 1870, he painted in the classic traditional style
which was more rigid in its composition and muted in its palette, but between 1870
and 1880 he painted in the true impressionistic style of brilliant hues, broken color,
and soft shapes and figures.
Renoir entered the third artistic style of his life after he traveled outside of France.
This style of painting is often referred to as his “Harsh’ style. Renoir actually
called the style sour. Figures were surrounded by sharper lines, and were flatter in
their texture. His color palette was again more muted as he focused more on the
form than on the color palette.
Artist Background
Renoir was born into a family of modest means and he was the sixth youngest of seven children (the
number varies in different accountings). His mother was a dressmaker and his father a tailor. Due to the
lack of work for his parents, when Renoir was three his family moved to Paris for better work
opportunities. At the age of 13 he left school to help support the family, and began working as a painter
North Stratfield School
Art in the Classroom
3 Pierre Auguste Renoir
of porcelain vases and plates. He was very good at his work, and enjoyed it a great deal. After six years
of painting porcelain, he decided to become an artist. Before he enrolled in art school, he also painted
hangings for overseas missionaries and decorations on fans. During those early years, he often visited
the Louvre (a famous museum in Paris, France) to study the French master painters, and at 19 years old,
he entered school and paid for it from money he’d saved.
He attended two Parisian art schools during the early 1860’s: the Academie Gleyre and Ecole des
Beaux-Arts. The former taught art as a formal exercise (which did not agree with Renoir’s love of life
and need for art to be a pleasure), and the latter provided schooling in drawing. During this time of
schooling, Renoir met several important friends, Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Frederic Bazille.
Together, these four friends traveled the French countryside, painting outdoor scenes in the style that
came to be called "Impressionism".
In 1870, he was called to join the French cavalry for a tour in the Franco-Prussian war. He was
stationed far from the front and was responsible for training horses. He returned to Paris in 1871.
After the war, he took part in several exhibitions during the early 1870’s, and the term “Impressionists”
is coined in a review of one of these exhibitions. In 1879, his major break through came – he decided to
show one of his works at the official Salon of Paris instead of at the Fourth Impressionists Exhibition.
The Salon is like an art show, but you have to be selected to show your work there. There he presented
his work Madame Charpentier and Her Children. The work was highly praised by critics and he
received many commissions from the exhibitions.
After the 1879 Salon, Renoir began to travel for the first time in his life. Through these travels, his
appreciation for the masters of art grew. He became more aware that the use of color need not always
be bright, and that subdued (toned down) colors also had their place. When he returned to Paris, his
work evolved into what is often called his “harsh” or red style.
In 1886 the Impressionist Exhibition of New York ushered in a strong demand of Impressionist
paintings, and Renoir, like his compatriots, were kept busy and in financial comfort.
In the late 1890’s Renoir suffered from the beginning stages of arthritis and rheumatism, and although
his health declined over time, he continued to paint. At times, his hands were in such pain, that he
would have the brushes tied to his wrists with string so that he could continue to paint.
In 1904, to avoid the cool climate of Paris (especially in the winter) Renoir and the family moved to
southern France. His health continued to deteriorate until he was unable to walk and was confined to a
wheelchair, but he continued to paint, and even created sculpture with the help of two assistants.
Aline died in 1915. And only 4 months after visiting the Louvre to see one of his own painting hung
with the old masters, Renoir died at home in Cagnes on December 3, 1919.
Renoir is one of the most prolific painters in history with approximately 6,000 paintings to his credit.
Renoir was known for painting with great gusto and joy about the subjects he chose. He once said
“If it didn’t amuse me, believe me, I wouldn’t paint it. ”He also said: "Why shouldn't art be pretty?
North Stratfield School
Art in the Classroom
4 Pierre Auguste Renoir
There are enough unpleasant things in the world."
Renoir is recognized by critics as one of the greatest and most unique painters of his generation. He is
noted for many aspects of his painting which include:
• Lines that display great harmony
• Color that is brilliant and intense
• Subject mater that has an intimate charm
He painted with a joyous love of life and the ability to translate that love into visual terms that all of us
can understand and share. He strongly believed that the world was a good place, and his art flows from
this belief. He saw happiness as the natural state of mankind, and therefore he found it everywhere in
the world around him.
His art is direct, simple and profound because it reflected his personal philosophy. He is most famous
for paintings of young girls and children, and intimate portraits of French middle-class life at during the
19th century. He painted lively groups in outdoor, colorful surroundings, and often used his friends
as models. He frequently painted his wife and children. Unlike many his Impressionist contemporaries,
Renoir’s art highlighted people rather than landscapes. Renoir focused mainly on women in his art.
This was because he believed that women were the source of all warmth and life in the world. Children,
flowers and fruit all supported that premise. Renoir painted men in his works less often, and when he
did, they were usually portrayed as suitors – gentle admirers of the principle female.
One of his paintings, Bal du moulin de la Galette or Dance at the Moulin de la Galette recently sold
for 78 million dollars. One of the top 6 all time highest prices paid for a painting.
Featured Artwork
Girl With A Watering Can (1876)
(oil on canvas)
The painting features a young girl standing alone in a garden.
She is serious, and a bit stiff in her fancy clothes. Our pointof-view is from the girl’s height, so we see the garden as she
does. Renoir is showing us the world as the little one sees it,
not as adults see it. It makes the garden more nostalgic, one
that we might remember from our childhood. The colors are
vibrant, and Renoir shows his growing concern over very
small details.
Show:
Ask:
Large mounted reproduction
• What do you think is going on in this painting?
Let's create a story about this painting.
• How does this painting make you feel? (Happy,
relaxed)
North Stratfield School
Art in the Classroom
Pierre Auguste Renoir
5 • Do you think this picture is beautiful? Why? Is it the little girl, the garden, the colors, etc.?
• Why do you think Renoir painted this picture? Do you think the girl wanted to have her
portrait painted? Do you think her parents hired Renoir to paint their daughter? (Her identity
is not known, however, it is thought that Renoir painted her to help increase sales orders for
his paintings.)
• What do her clothes say about her? Do you think she comes from a wealthy family? (She
appears to be fairly wealthy which would fit with the point made above. Poorer families
would not commission (order) a painting.)
In The Meadow (1888-1892)
(oil on canvas)
Between 1888 and 1892 Renoir painted a number of works in
which the same pair of girls—the blonde wearing a white
frock and the brunette a pink one—engage in leisurely
pastimes. Here, they pick flowers; the same models appear at
the piano in a painting now in the Museum's Lehman
Collection (1975.1.201). These intimate genre scenes, which
celebrate youthful innocence, found a ready market in the
early 1890s.
Show:
Ask:
Large mounted reproduction
• What do you think is going on in this painting?
Let's create a story about this painting.
• What looks similar between this painting and Girl
with a Watering Can? What looks different?
Woman in a Boat with Canoeist (1877)
(oil on canvas)
This is an example of another painting where the female
figure is shown in the prominent role. The woman in this
painting also is shown wearing a hat and similar style
dress of the milliner’s assistant in The Umbrellas
painting. Renoir uses brilliant colors and shows his
subjects in outdoor scenes using natural light.
Show:
Large unmounted reproduction
Ask: • What are the similarities and differences in this painting and the others shown.
Art in the Classroom
North Stratfield School
6 Pierre Auguste Renoir
• What are the colors that Renoir uses in these paintings? How does the color reflect the mood
of the painting? How does Renoir’s outlook on life reflect itself in his paintings (use of bright
colors, putting women, children, fruits and flowers in the paintings)
Discussing the Art
Show the Elements of Art board.
Color
•
What kinds of colors did Renoir use? (Cool colors – blue and green? or warm colors – red,
yellow, orange?)
•
Are the colors distinct or are they blended together to form a softer look? (They are blended.
Look specifically at the grassy areas)
•
Do you see sunlight in the painting? Where? (Talk about how Impressionists utilized quick
brush strokes of pure color, and then added dabs of a complimentary color to produce the effect
of sunlight)
Shape
What shapes do you see? (Curves, circles, rectangles)
•
Texture
•
What kinds of textures are depicted in the painting? (Soft, yet full of detail especially on the
girl)
Line
•
Does Renoir’s use of lines create tension in the painting? (Not overly although she is standing,
waiting to do some thing with the watering can, and gazing beyond us)
•
Do the lines that Renoir used draw your attention to any one area of the painting? (Yes, the lines
of the girls dress (specifically the lace) draw you to her face)
•
Are the lines clean and hard or soft? (Clean and crisp, yet soft and flowing.)
•
Is the painting highly detailed or not detailed? (Actually it is both – for the detail, look at her
shoes, lace, and face. The rest of the painting is a wash of color that almost blurs together. This
is classic Impressionist, where the painting almost looks like a photograph and part of the
picture is in focus and part is out of focus.)
North Stratfield School
Art in the Classroom
7 Pierre Auguste Renoir
Light
•
What kind of light is Renoir showing? (Natural)
•
Where is the light coming from? (It is a general soft light, but the source is from behind the
viewer.)
Space
Identify items in the:
• Foreground: The objects and ground that are “before” or in front of everything else in the
picture.
•
Middle ground: The objects and ground in a picture that are mid-distant, in front of the
background.
•
Background: The farthest away objects in a picture, usually near the top of the picture plane. In
a landscape it is the sky and the farthest land.
Composition
•
Is the painting balanced? (Yes, the painting is harmonious. The road and garden create a balance
and they are off-set by the vertical shape of the little girl)
Other Examples of Renoir’s art:
Madame Charpentier and Her Children
(1878)
This painting was commissioned by the publisher
Georges Charpentier, husband and father of the
subjects of this painting. He was a famous publisher at
the time and some of the famous authors he published
were Gustave Flaubert, the Goncourt brothers, and
Émile Zola.
Wearing an elegant designer gown, Marguérite
Charpentier sits beside her three-year-old son Paul.
Following the fashion of the time, his hair has not yet
been cut and his clothes match those of his sister Georgette, who perches on the family dog. Pleased
with the painting, Madame Charpentier used her influence to ensure that it was hung in a choice spot at
the Salon and introduced Renoir to her friends, several of whom commissioned work from him.
Show:
Small laminated reproduction
North Stratfield School
Art in the Classroom
8 Pierre Auguste Renoir
Ask:
What are the similarities between this painting and the others? Discuss the type of people
depicted, clothing worn, subject matter, colors used.
Tilla Durieux (1878)
In July 1914, just prior to the outbreak of World War I, the
famous German actress Tilla Durieux traveled to Paris with her
husband, the art dealer Paul Cassirer, to pose for Renoir. The
actress looks impressive in her apprearance, attired in the
costume for her role as Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard
Shaw’s Pygmalion in 1913. When Renoir painted this ambitious
portrait, he was so crippled with arthritis that he had to sit in a
wheelchair with his brush strapped to his hand.
Show: Small laminated reproduction
Ask:
What are the similarities between this painting and the
others? Discuss the type of people depicted, clothing
worn, subject matter, colors used.
The Umbrellas (1878)
Renoir’s The Umbrellas shows a bustling Paris street in the rain.
The composition of the painting does not focus on the centre of
the picture, which is a tangle of hands. It even cuts off figures at
either edge like a photographic snapshot. This kind of
unconventional arrangement was something that several of the
Impressionists enjoyed experimenting with. The work is particularly intriguing in that it shows the artist at
two separate points in his career, the second of which was a
moment of crisis as he fundamentally reconsidered his painting
style. When he began 'The Umbrellas' in 1880-1, Renoir was still
using the typically loose brushwork and bright, pure colors of
the Impressionist movement. During the early 1880s, he became
increasingly disillusioned with the Impressionist technique. He began to look back to more traditional art: the drawings of
Ingres and the 'purity and grandeur' of classical art. Returning to
'The Umbrellas', he repainted the figure on the left in a crisper style, using a more muted palette. The
rapid changes in women's fashions allow us to date the second stage of the painting to 1885-6.
North Stratfield School
Art in the Classroom
9 Pierre Auguste Renoir
Activities
•
•
Ask the children if they have ever had a portrait painted of them, or had a picture taken of
themselves? What did the portrait say about them?
Have each child discuss what they might want to do if they were to have a portrait done of
them:
• What clothes would they wear?
• Would they hold some thing? (doll, sports equipment, etc.)
• Would they like to be alone or with others? If others who?
• Where would they like to have the portrait done (location)?
• Then ask why they would choose these things, and what it would tell us about them.
• And/or, how would they show (reflect) what they are thinking? Are they being happy,
brave, strong, silly, handsome/pretty?
For older classes:
Draw a comparison of Renoir’s A Girl With A Watering Can to Diego Velazquez’s Infanta
Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress or Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (any other portrait that you
as a presenter like can also be used in this discussion). These questions do not have to have a
definitive answer, and are mostly looking to make the children think, evaluate the images, and
decide how each makes them feel. Questions might include:
• Which painting was painted outdoor or in a studio? (it is likely that only the Renoir is
painted outdoors)
• What makes them think this?
• How are the people different?
• What do you think each person is? Queen, maid, society lady, etc.
• How do the things that the people are wearing, holding, sitting with, surrounded by, etc. tell a
story of who you are looking at?
• How does the use of color vary? (dramatically the da Vinci is very dark and Renoir very bright)
• How does the use of color make you think about the person?
• How does each painting make you feel?
• How do they appear to be lit?
• Which painting do you prefer? And why?
Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Auguste_Renoir
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/437434
http://artsmarts4kids.blogspot.com/search?q=renoir
http://www.renoirgallery.com/biography.asp
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/437432
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mme._Charpentier_and_Her_Children
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Umbrellas_%28Renoir_painting%29
http://www.frick.org/interact/renoir-umbrellas
http://www.artble.com/artists/pierre-auguste_renoir/more_information/style_and_technique http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/pierre-­‐auguste-­‐renoir-­‐the-­‐umbrellas North Stratfield School
Art in the Classroom
Pierre Auguste Renoir
10 Bibliography William Gaunt, Renoir, Phaidon Press. Rosabianca Skira-­‐Venturi, A Weekend With Renoir, Rizzoli, 1990 Tom Parsons, Art For Young People – Pierre Auguste Renoir, Sterling Publishing, 1996 Mike Venezia, Getting to Know The World’s Greatest Artists – Pierre Auguste Renoir, Children’s Press, 1996 Ewa Zadrzynska, The Girl With a Watering Can, Chameleon Books, 1990 “Pierre Auguste Renoir Biography,” Canvas Creations, www.canvascreations.com/gallery/bio_Renoir.html “Auguste Renoir Biography,”Artlino, www.artlino.com/articles/auguste_renoir.asp “Pierre Auguste Renoir Biography,” 1001 Prints and Posters, www.1001prints posters.com/pierre_auguste_renoir.htm “Pierre Auguste Renoir,” The Worldwide Art Gallery www.theartgallery.com.au/ArtEducation/greatartists/Renoir/about/index.html North Stratfield School
Art in the Classroom