Renoir, Pierre-Auguste

French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, February 25th 1841 – December 3rd 1919

A leading painter in the development of impressionism. He began his art studies inder Charles Gleyre in Paris in 1862, where he met Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Frederic Bazille. Renoir first received recognition when 6 of his paintings were included in the first impressionist exhibition in 1874. That same year two of his paintings were shown with Durand-Ruel in London. This came 10 years after his first exhibition at the Paris Salon in 1864. In the period in between, there were times when he not even had enough money to buy paint. 1874 was also the year that saw Renoirs friendship with Jules Le Coeur and his family end. This caused his loss of access to their property near Fontainebleau and its forest, causing a distinct change of subjects for the artist. Vibrant light and saturated color are among the hallmarks of Renoirs paintings. They often focus on people in intimate and candid compositions and the female nude was among his favorite subject. Renoir showed the details of his subject using freely brushes strokes of color, in the characteristic impressionist style, causing his figures to softly fuse with their surroundings and each other. The warmth and sensuality of his art has made his paintings some of the most well known in the history of art. Among his best known works of art is the 1876 Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette, which depicts and outdoor dance garden scene on the Montmartre in Paris, a location close to the artists home. The painting was sold at Sotheby’s in New York for 78.1 million in 1990.