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Pierre Auguste Renoir was a French painter.
He was born on February 25,1841 to Leonard and Marguerite Renoir in Limoges, France. Early in his life he showed a talent and interest in drawing and painting. His father worked as a tailor but the family was very poor. When he was just 13 years old he was withdrawn from school to take a job to help with the family's finances.
He took a job painting porcelain at a firm called Levy freres. He worked there until the firm went out of business due to bankruptcy. It is said that he began painting around this time.
His first paintings were exhibited in 1866, but they were rejected and Renoir began to question his talent.
From 1866 to 1867, Renoir worked in Paris with Claude Monet who also shared his interest in a style of painting called Impressionism. Impressionism is a kind of painting that emphasizes the lighting and the mood instead of just focusing on the people or objects that are painted. Although Renoir and Monet shared an interest in this style of painting there were differences in their work. They often painted the same subject with completely different results.
His first painting that was accepted and successful was called "Esmaralda Dancing With Her Goat Around A Fire Illuminating The Entire Crowd Of Vagabonds". It is unknown as to why he destroyed this painting after it was exhibited.
Renoir seemed to prefer painting people more than other subjects such as landscapes or other objects. He especially enjoyed painting women, young girls and children. He did many paintings of women in the nude. His paintings of children seemed to capture the innocence and beauty of a child. He liked to paint subjects that would please the viewer by showing people who are enjoying themselves and being happy. It is said that he could find the beauty in anything and this was reflected in his paintings.
One of his paintings called, "Child in White" is a beautiful painting of a small child.
The painting called "Dancer" is a equally beautiful painting of a ballet dancer.
Some other paintings that he painted are named,"Portrait of Monet" and the very famous painting called, "The Bathers".
Renoir married in 1880 and had three sons. His son Jean used some of his inheritance from his father to start his own production company. He was a french actor and director. He was also a writer and wrote a book called, "Renoir-My Father.
Later in his life, Renoir did some sculptures but by this time in his life he had arthritis and his hands were so crippled that a lot of these sculptures were done by assistants under his watchful eye. It is said that the assistants were Renoir's hands since they worked so closely together.
It is also said that when his hands became crippled from arthritis he tied his paint brushes to hands and continued painting.
He died in December of 1919.
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