PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR (French Impressionist Painter)
Pierre-August Renoir was born February 25, 1841 in Limoges, France. He was the son of a tailor, and in his childhood, his family moved to Paris. Early in life he moved to Paris with his family. At age 14, was apprenticed at a porcelain firm as a painter, and he showed unusual skill. The company was bankrupted in 1858, and Renoir decided to become and artist. He studied with the Swiss teacher Marc-Gabriel-Charles Gleyer, and attended L'Ecole des Beaux Arts. He also spent time at the Louvre, copying the paintings that hung there.
Renoir's popularity as a painter began in 1864, when he entered his painting, " Esmeralda Dancing with her Goat around a Fire Illuminating the Entire Crowd of Vagabonds" in the French painting exhibit called the Salon. With his philosophy that art should be beautiful, it's no wonder that people loved his impressionistic use of light and color as well as his upbeat themes. Painting such as "Luncheon of the Boating Party"; "The Umbrellas" and "Bathers" bring the viewer to pleasant scenes, nearly dreamlike in their color and form. The artist was unapologetic about his work: "Why shouldn't art be pretty?" he said. "There are enough unpleasant things in the world."
Renoir, along with Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Frederic Bazille, made his reputation as a master of Impressionist painting. His work is still widely appreciated, with prints, calendars, and even coffee mugs paying modern-day homage to this 19th century artistic genius.
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