Among the Impressionists, the Paintings of the Frenchman Pierre Auguste Renoir are unique in style, and most of his works depict beautiful scenery and figures, always full of joyful and bright atmosphere. Renoir combines traditional painting methods with impressionist methods, showing the changes of light and shadow with bright and transparent colors, and diligently pursuing the art of beauty, which has won the attention and appreciation of scholars of later generations.
Diligent and unremitting, the pursuit of unique painting style
Renoir was born in 1841 in the south-central French city of Limoges, which is rich in porcelain, and Renoir's painting career began with porcelain painting. At the age of 9, Renoir began working as an apprentice in a porcelain factory, and became interested in painting porcelain, fans, and screens. Ten years later, Renoir moved to Paris with his family and officially began to study painting. During this period, he often went to the Louvre to observe and study various painting techniques of famous French painters. During his studies in the studio of the famous French painter Glaire, he met a large number of influential Impressionist painters such as Monet, Baziyi, Sisley and so on, and formed a deep friendship with them.
In the early days, Renoir followed the painting style of the realist painter Courbet. One of his genre paintings, Esmeralda, based on the protagonist of Hugo's novel Notre Dame de Paris, was selected for the official art salon exhibition. But later, he felt that he was too much simulating the painting method of his predecessors, and had no personality characteristics. Despite receiving praise at the salon, he always felt ashamed of his artistic pursuits. He was not willing to go the way others had taken. He understood that to seek new paths, he must dare to accept challenges.
In 1863, next to the official art salon set up by the Académie de France, the "Salon of the Losers" was established, and those works of art that could not enter the official salon exhibition had their own display platform. It was here that a new school of art, Impressionism, came to the fore. The next 10 years are known as the "10 years of external light" in Renoir's painting career, and he often went outdoors to sketch, understanding and feeling the effects of light and color in nature in an immersive way. His paintings began to show a sweet painting style and focused on improving the way of painting light and shadow on the surface of the water.
In the summer of 1869, Renoir and Monet often went to a boat resort outside Paris to paint the seine. For two months, they all began to use wide brushstrokes to capture momentary scenes, subtly depicting the natural ripples of water and the reflection of light. It can be said that they sowed the seeds of Impressionism here. Renoir and Monet sometimes depict almost the same scenes, but their paintings show their distinct personalities. Renoir focuses more on depicting the characters in the scene, and renders a clearer atmosphere.
Someone asked Renoir if he was painting because it was fun. At that time, Renoir wittily replied that if it was not fun, he never painted. This also shows Renoir's unique pursuit of painting from the side, his painting is first of all the pleasure of the body and mind, pleasure and the perception of beauty, is the happiness of the world, without conditions. This has also become the personality pursuit of his painting career, pouring his passion for life into painting creation.
After a thousand sails, he returned as a teenager
Renoir always believed that pain would pass and beauty would remain. Although life will inevitably encounter hardships, life should be full of flowers and sunshine after all.
Poverty, frustration, arrest... The tribulations of life have made Renoir more optimistic, gentle and approachable. After his achievements, the waiters of the Berlard tavern he frequented still spoke to him equally. In social situations, he was taciturn and sentimental; but as soon as he picked up the paintbrush, his gloomy face immediately glowed, and he hummed melodious tunes as he painted.
This peaceful and optimistic state of mind is also reflected in Renoir's paintings. Watching Renoir's paintings, you can feel the warm sunshine, loving eyes, warm smiles, harmonious family... He always used paintings to soothe people's wounded hearts. The painting "The Ball of the Pancake Mill" is grand, and the sunlight through the dense trees sprinkles on the table, on the grass, and on people's faces, producing a wonderful and rich change of light and color, creating a lively and cheerful dance party atmosphere. The characters in the painting are depicted leisurely, cheerfully, full of youthful vitality, like a song of praise and lyricism, giving people the beauty, romance and interest of life, and works such as "Lunch on the Cruise Ship" and "Box" also set off a joyful and overflowing picture of a beautiful life, fully embodying the artistic characteristics of his works.
Renoir is particularly good at figure painting. The figures in the painting are depicted leisurely and happily, full of youthful vitality, like a hymn. The women he paints are feminine and kind; the girls are calm and elegant; the children are innocent and childish. In "The Ball of the Pancake Mill", the sunlight shines through the leaves on the women's faces, showing a speckle of light, which sets off the gentleness and agility of the women. In "Lunch on a Boat", Renoir places his wife Alina Saligo, who is teasing the puppy, in the foreground, and the widespread use of warm colors not only creates a warm and harmonious atmosphere for the picture, but also makes the characters' faces soft and calm, presenting a sense of leisure and self-sufficiency.
In his later years, Renoir was already an accomplished painter, enjoying a harmonious family atmosphere while continuing his painting career. He continued to work diligently in painting, creating many charming and extremely popular family sketches. At this time, his works have gradually jumped out of the framework of Impressionism, but still adhere to the painting technique of dreamlike jumping but deep into the heart. Whether it is flowers, figures, or natural scenery, it will be presented on his canvas with a sunny appearance.
Renoir didn't suffer? No. It's just that in his perceptual world, pain will pass and beauty will stay. He has a happy state of mind because there is a beautiful world in his eyes; his world is always filled with a happy and sunny young heart.
(Source: People's Daily)