The Boating Party Lunch

Auguste Renoir

The Boating Party Lunch
c. 1889
Image Courtesy of Carol Gerten

"I've been for forty years discovering that the Queen of all colors is black."
-Auguste Renoir

 Son of a French tailor, Pierre Auguste Renoir was born on February 25, 1841 in Limoges, France and became famous for his paintings of the female body. He studied art in 1862-63 at the academy of Charles Gabriel Gallery. His started off as a commercial artist, copying Velázquez paintings onto porceline. Renoir's earlier orignial artwork was highly influenced by Eugene Delacroix and Claude Monet, whom he often work with. He was a member of the ring of artists known as the Impressionists, whose paintings were generally out of focus, and done with quick brushstrokes. Renoir gained recognition in 1874 at the first impressionist school exhibition, but his reputation was not fully established until 1883 when a solo exhibition was held at the Durand-Ruel Gallery in Paris.

Renoir is known for his ability to define skin tones and is well known for his portrayal of females and feminine grace. Much of his artwork revolves around a carefree world, his artwork is without sadness. The style of his artwork went through a number of changes. He first began with an experimental style, his paintings contained a purely Impressionist ideal, and the images eventually became more solid. His later work contained a lot of soft brushwork, associated mainly with his paints of female nudes. His colors grew more intense, while the technique became less impressionistic.

He married Aline Chargot 1891. For the last 20 years of his life, he was unable to paint freely because his fingers were cripple by arthritis. He still manage to produce a number of paints by strapping a brush to his arm. He died in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a small village in southern France on December 3, 1919.

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