Renoir:His Works

In 1869 Renoir and Monet worked together at La Grenouillère, a bathing spot on the Seine. Both artists became obsessed with painting light and water. This was a decisive moment in the development of impressionism, for it was there that Renoir and Monet made their discovery that shadows are not brown or black but are coloured by their surroundings, and that the 'local colour' of an object is modified by the light in which it is seen, by reflections from other objects and by contrast with juxtaposed colours.

His masterpiece - Opera Box (1874), which was shown in the first impressionist exhibhition, shows the artist's penchant for rich and freely handled figurative expression. The Swing and the Moulin de la Galette (both 1876) are true examples of his radiant works of the 1870s. Here, he creates worlds that are pleasurable, sensuous, and generously endowed with human feeling. During the painting of his masterpiece - the luncheon of the boating party (1880-81), he met the woman who he eventually married, while she was acting as one of the models for this scene on the terrace of La Grenouillère.