Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in LImoges in 1841. In 1844 he went to Paris with his family and ehen he was 13 he practiced at the workshosp of brothers Léug as a painter of china. Some year later he was decorator of cloths and fans and a painter of holy pictures. He attended also evening courses at Ecole des Beaux Arts and Gleyre's atélier. IN theese places he met and became friend of many painters like Sisley, Bazille and Monet and with them he realized paintings en plein air.
Renoir is one of the most famous artists of Impressionism with Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas, Bracquemond, Guillaumin and Morisot. The group was indipendent from the tradition of Salon. He joined firsts collective exhibitions: in 1874 at Nadar's studio (the photographer), in 1876 and in 1877 with famous masterpieces like Bal au Moulin de la Galette (1876).
He travelled in Algeri and Italy. Here he studied and loved frescos by Raffaello and mural paintings of Pompei. His research of this period was about solid shapes of the classical tradition and from this moment he introduced a new theme: the bathers which became a symbol of his production; Blonde Bather (1881), Big Bathers (1901-1902).
Even if he felt ill with rheumatisms and became disabled at the end of the century, Renoir went on painting with brushes linked to his hands. IN 1908 he went to Cagnes at the sea. Many young artists like Henru Matisse visited him. Richard Guino went to live and work with him realising sculptures for him.
In 1919 he finished the painting The Bathers and in the same year he Renoir died of poliomeylitis.
