If anyone in the history of art looks happiest, it must be the French Impressionist painter Pierre Auguste Renoir, who once said: "There are so many unhappy things in the world, why can't art be happy?" So Renoir's favorite subject is happiness, and his work is full of the joy of life, and the most frequent themes are children, flowers, and young women.
Self-portrait, Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1910
Renoir was actually born in a very ordinary family, his parents are tailors, at first to the family chores, and then went to work in the porcelain factory, began to learn to paint porcelain painting, did not expect to do better and better, the family found that he did have a talent for painting.
At the age of 21, Renoir sent him to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, and it was also at this stage that Renoir became good friends with Monet and Sisley, and often went out to sketch together, making him like to use light and bright colors. During this period, Renoir's work showed a typical Impressionist style; after his trip to Italy in 1881, he was attracted by the paintings of the Renaissance masters and also influenced by the neoclassical painter Ingres, whose painting style was closer to classicism that emphasized contours and lines.
Renoir's life has not been so smooth, and it is precisely because of this that the optimism revealed in his paintings, the love of life, is even more precious.
Pierre Auguste Renoir, oil on canvas, 1876
The original is in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France
One of Renoir's most famous works, The Ball at the Pancake Mill, was created by him in the mid-1870s. During this period, many Impressionists, such as Camille Pissarro and Gauguin, chose to leave Paris, while Renoir stayed in Paris and created a large number of large-scale works based on the landscape of Parisian street life.
The painting is now in the exhibition hall on the fifth floor of the Musée d'Orsay, with a height of 1 meter 3 and a width of 1 meter 7, occupying a whole exhibition wall in the center of the exhibition hall, vividly showing the leisure life of Parisians at that time for the audience. In 1877, the painting also took part in a group exhibition by Impressionist artists. The place in the painting is montmartre in Paris, and the people attending the ball in the square are bustling and lively. With delicate, colorful brushstrokes, Renoir shows his extraordinary observation of people in motion under the dual light of man-made and natural light.
Renoir has always admired Degas's ability to grasp the state of movement of the characters, and in this painting we can see his depiction of the different dynamics of the characters. This large-format work represents the creative passion of the painter and is also a representative work of the beginning of the Impressionist movement.
Little Erin
Pierre Auguste Renoir, oil on canvas, 65 × 54 cm, 1880
The original is in the collection of the Zurich Borough Collection Foundation
"Little Irene" is one of Renoir's most impressionistic portraits, which is permeated with the fragrance of a girl and is full of a youthful vitality. Little Irene in the painting sits there idyllicly, staring intently ahead, the whole person in a thick dark green bush. Her eyes are hazy and sad, with a hint of helplessness; and looking into the distance seems to imply that she is looking forward to the future, little Erin's demeanor will always attract the attention of every audience, making people curious about the story behind this look.
There are no clear lines in the whole painting, and green leaves are used in the background treatment to highlight the little girl herself. There is no obvious boundary at the junction of the shape and the background, so that the color of the picture produces a subtle sense of hazyness. The shawl hair that flows like a waterfall on the entire upper body of the character is not painted flat, but is composed of a variety of brushstrokes of brownish red, which makes the skin of the girl in the painting more delicate and transparent. "Little Irene", as a representative work of Rayano, has an indescribable sadness under the bright and innocent appearance; the picture is heavy and bright, setting off the natural vividness of the girl, and also representing an important style of Rayano's works.
Two sisters
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, oil on canvas, 67.5 × 76.5 cm, 1893
The original is in the collection of the Dan Skagen Museum of Art
The painting "Two Sisters" is Renoir's oil painting created in 1893 and is widely loved by the public. The painting depicts two sisters snuggling together, with woods, flowing water, and hillsides interspersed in the distance. The artist captures the ordinary and moving moments when the sisters get along, using bright and rich colors to depict the sunshine and the delicacy of the two innocent girls.
Pierre Auguste Renoir, oil on canvas
In the painting above, Renoir captures a pair of people who are resting by the lake, an uncle and a little girl, they may be lovers, relatives or friends, it is estimated that even Renoir can not judge accurately, so there is no obvious feature left in the picture.
Vines and leaves fell from their heads, and there was a railing next to them, and behind them was a lake surrounded by grass, and there were also cruise ships on the surface. The two men enjoyed the view from the sunny lake as if they were talking about something. He painted the lake in the background, the small pool in the distance, the hills, and the shirts of the men and the skirts of the girls nearby.
Cleverly, Renoir also added a yellow reflection to the skin and clothes of the two figures in the painting. Renoir's bold use of color, combined with his magical brushstrokes and meticulous control of light and shadow depictions, together give the picture a warm feeling at the end.
Renoir's works rarely have gloomy tones, and mostly use warm colors to write scenes of life full of joy and fun, and "The Girl Who Plays the Piano" is one such work. In the painting, two girls, wearing a long white dress and a blue ribbon around their waists, sit on a chair, holding the score in one hand and pressing the keys in the other, practicing the piano intently, and she looks up at the score placed on the piano, as if singing along with the music. The other girl put one hand on the chair and leaned on the piano with the other, looking intently at the score together, and the atmosphere between the two people was harmonious and harmonious.
Pierre Auguste Renoir, oil on canvas, 1892
The girl's fluffy blonde hair and shiny satin dress are Renoir's usual techniques. The contrast between the complementary main colors of red and green and the contrast of blue and yellow colors makes the picture reflect the elegant and quiet temperament of the girl and the lively and flexible nature.
Part of "The Girl Who Played the Piano"
Renoir does not use contour lines to outline the characters, but uses different colors and shades to make the two characters who are indulging in music have a three-dimensional and vivid sense. The whole picture is beautifully composed, the colors are extremely soft and beautiful, the lines are smooth, and it is full of a sweet and innocent atmosphere. At the time of the creation of this work, the author was already seriously ill and in a very bad situation, but these are not at all what we cannot experience in his works.
The writer Maupassant once described Renoir this way: "In Renoir's eyes, everything is rose. Renoir never depicts sadness in his works, and the women who appear in his paintings, whether beautiful women or lovely girls, are as endearing as pink roses. Even when he was seriously ill, Renoir's work was still bright and moving, allowing people to see the most unique style of Parisian women through his brushstrokes.