Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1841 – 1919

Biography

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, France, and began working life as a porcelain painter before studying art in Paris. With Claude Monet, he helped invent Impressionism, painting sunlight, leisure, and the people of Paris with soft, luminous colour in works such as Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette and Luncheon of the Boating Party. His portraits and nudes celebrated beauty and sensual pleasure, and his warm, crowded canvases became among the most beloved in Western art. In later life, crippling rheumatoid arthritis twisted his hands, yet he kept painting, strapping brushes to his fingers, and turned to sculpture with assistants. He moved to Cagnes-sur-Mer in southern France, where he worked until his final years. He died there in 1919. His paintings hang in the great museums of the world, and his celebration of everyday pleasure remains instantly recognizable.