Angel Ramiro Sanchez (b.1974)

Poppy, 20"x53". oil on canvas

Angel Ramiro Sanchez was born in 1974 in Maracaibo, Venezuela. At age six Ramiro was accepted with full scholarship into the Instituto Niños Cantores del Zulia, a school for musically gifted children. At age fourteen he began five years of apprenticeship with the realist painter, Abdon Jose Romero, an eminent specialist in murals for churches and public buildings. In 1993 a study grant from Msgr. Gustavo Ocando Yamarte, Founder of the Ninos Cantores, enable him to travel to Florence, Italy, Where he successfully passed the admission examination for the renowned Accademia di Belle Arti. For the next four years, he studied full time at the Accademia, receiving his diploma magna cum laude. Ramiro also attended drawing and painting sessions at the Florence Academy of Art, directed by painter Daniel Graves. Ramiro was appointed Senior Painting Instructor at the FAA in 1997. Today he is the Academy Painting Program Director and he shares his life and passion for art with his wife, the artist Melissa Franklin Sanchez.

Ramiro’s paintings came to the attention of Italian private collectors for the first time in 1996 at a juried exhibition in Montopoli, near Florence. In 2003 his paintings and drawings were subject of a monograph “Ramiro” by international art critic John T. Spike. In 2005 he received the special Director’s Award at the Florence International Biennale of Contemporary Art. He was then invited to show his work as a guest artist at the Austria Biennale in 2006. Ramiro won the prestigious Stobart Foundation Award in 2008, which is awarded to artists who use live models in their works. Paintings, drawings and portraits by Ramiro are found in public and private collections in Europe, the United States and Venezuela.

Per Johnny Kristiansen (b. 1965)

Is There a Place for Me?, 39"x31", oil on canvas


Per Johnny Kristiansen was born in Norway in 1965. He took part time classes in drawing and painting in his hometown and was enrolled in the T. Ramberg studio in Steinkjer, Norway, from 1999 - 2001. Per Johnny began his studies at The Florence Academy of Art in January 2002. He completed his three-year painting certificate and fourth year of specialization in painting in December 2005. He participated in a juried exhibition in Tromsø, Norway in November 2005, in the Second Annual Alumni Exhibit in Florence in 2006 and in a group exhibit at the W.H. Patterson Gallery in London in 2006. He lives and works in his hometown of Tromsø in Northern Norway, a town that is called the gateway to the arctic in the land of the midnight sun.

“Living in the north, and being a passionate outdoor person, where there are enormous contrasts in nature and light and dark, my passion was born. The last years I have been working with portraits and figure paintings, and I am very grateful to Daniel Graves and The Florence Academy of Art for making it possible for me to do so. In figure paintings I want to describe people of today in a classical realistic way - Contemporary Realism. And what is important to me is the sense of light, atmosphere, emotions and integrity.”

Jura Bedic (b.1980)

Moire II, 31"x37", oil on canvas

Jura Bedic was born in Croatia in 1980. He completed his studies at The Florence Academy of Art in 2002, and became a principle instructor first in the Intensive Drawing Program, then in the Painting Program. He has participated in group exhibitions in numerous galleries in the United States, as well as alumni exhibitions organized by the Academy in Germany and Florence, including “Realism Revisited” at the Panorama Museum, Bad Frankenhausen.

Jura is a winner of the 2001 Art Renewal Center International Scholarship Competition, and his work is featured in an article in American Artist’s “Drawing” Magazine in 2003, ”Classical Approaches to the Teaching of Drawing.” In 2007 he won "The best in Show" award in the F.A.A.'s 3rd Annual Alumni Exhibition. He continues to paint and teach in Florence, Italy.

"The success of a realistic painting does not depend merely on copying a subject. I believe it needs to offer the textures, colors, and tones to one's eye and become something more than just an illusion. Through an evolutionary process, painting again becomes a part of nature itself."

Alicia Nicole Ponzio, ( b.1974)

The Letting Go, Bronze, 61"x32"x17"

Alicia Nicole Ponzio (b.1974) is a figurative sculptress working primarily in bronze. Originally from the United States, she is currently living and working in Florence, Italy.
Since her graduation from the Florence Academy of Art Sculpture Program in 2008, Alicia has been working in her studio and teaching Artistic Anatomy, Ecorchè Sculpture, and figure drawing at the same school. In 2009, she was awarded “Best in Show” at the Fourth Alumni Exhibition of the FAA and exhibited in a group show at the Guildhall Art Gallery in London where she was a finalist for the Founders’ Prize. In 2010, she was awarded a “Certificate of Excellence” by the Portrait Society of America and taught a course in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her work can be found in private collections in Europe, the United States, and Canada.
Alicia feels fortunate to be following her dreams and living them daily. Her goal is to bring to her work movement of forms, empathy toward other human beings and sincerity of expression.
In July of 2012, Alicia plans to open a studio in San Francisco, California, where she’ll continue to develop her work and teach private lessons in sculpture.

Eran Weber (b.1980)

Disturbed Pan, Bronze, 31"x21"x17"

Eran Webber is a figurative artist born in Israel in 1980. The grandchild of a realist painter, Eran grew up in an artistic environment on a Kibbutz along the Carmel Coast. His artistic training began in high school as well as evening courses in Tel Aviv. In 2007, after several years of military service and traveling abroad, Eran moved to Italy to study the fundamentals of classical figurative art and began sculpting at the prestigious Accademia di Belle Arte. Later that year Eran was accepted to the Florence Academy of Art, where he could focus his interests more intensely on figurative sculpture.

At the end of his second year of study at the FAA, Eran was invited to join the teaching staff, and since his graduation, in 2011, has remained as a principal sculpting instructor. Eran’s work is indelibly linked with his upbringing. He finds sculpting a sincere way to reconcile the nostalgic fragments of the past with his continuing search as an artist

“The deeper I become involved in art, the stronger my addiction to it, and the urge to create becomes an endless need. The ideas and abilities intensify, releasing a growing hunger for the next formation. When a person stands in front of me, I choose to see him through my filters and my interpretation, making the result uniquely my own. Sometimes I strive to dig into deeper layers, seeking to find out how the surface really looks. I appreciate the opportunity to share my work.”

Per Olvav Olsen (b.1980)

Still life with garlic, oil on canvas, 12"x16"

Born 1980, in Trondheim, Norway, Per Olav spent 4 years studying drawing and painting at The Florence Academy of Art, where he earned a certificate in Painting in 2005. Afterwards, he returned to his hometown of Verdal in Norway, where he now works in his own studio. In addition to concentrating on his own projects, he also devotes some of his time and studio space to teaching drawing and painting. He participated in the exhibition "Realism Revisited" at the Panorama Museum in Germany in 2003, "Scandinavian Realism" in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2008, and the Annual Alumni Exhibition at the Florence Academy of Art in 2006, 2007, 2009 & 2010.

Maureen Hyde

Autumn, oil on canvas, 49"x27"


Maureen Hyde received an MFA in painting from the University of California at Los Angeles. She worked from 1984 to 1994, illustrating books for young adults, historical novels and classics, and also numerous picture books for children. In 1996, she began a course of study at The Florence Academy of Art, and received a Diploma in Painting in 1999.

Maureen began her teaching career at the University of California, and resumed as one of the principle instructors at the FAA in the Intensive Drawing Program. She also teaches summer workshops in portraiture and landscaping with The Florence Academy of Art and the Notre Dame School of Architecture. She has participated in numerous alumni exhibitions, and is being represented with many galleries throughout the United States and in London. Her work is also found in private collections throughout Europe and America.

“In living and working in Florence, Italy, my creative spirit feels at home. The light and natural beauty of the Italian landscape and architecture is providing limitless inspiration. I am engaged in an endless dance, chasing and choreographing light as it illuminates the natural world with glimpses of beauty.”

Justin Hess (b. 1981)

A Second Glance, oil on canvas, 35"x39"

Justin Hess was born in Ventura California in 1981. At the age of 19 he began his formal art training at Ventura College and later at the San Francisco Academy of Art University. In further pursuit of his studies, he was introduced to the Florence Academy of Art by a colleague, and left the SFAAU to move to Italy.

Justin entered the Florence Academy of Art in the fall of 2005 and was awarded “Best Drawing of the Year” at the end of his first year. He participated in Alumni exhibitions while still a student, and upon receiving his Certificate of Completion in 2008 was awarded “Most Improved in Figure Painting” during the graduation ceremony.

Justin has taught painting classes and lectured on Pigment and Canvas preparation, at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy, and Atelier Østrup in Norway. His paintings have been published in “The Artist’s Magazine” and “International Artist Magazine”, where the latter will have a featured article & painting demonstration in print this coming year. In January of 2011, Justin was juried into the Oil Painters of America as an Associate Member, followed by his painting being accepted into the OPA 20th National Juried Competition as one of the 158 participants out of 2,100 applicants.

At the age of 30, Justin has already exhibited in Italy, London, Monaco, Norway and the United States. Now, after having completed an intensive 6 years of study and work in Florence Italy, Justin will be returning to San Francisco in the summer of 2011 and opening a small Atelier offering workshops and private instruction in the classical realist tradition. Justin’s paintings can be found in private collections in Australia, Europe, Scandinavia and the United States of America.

Cornelia Maria Hernes (b. 1979)

Tooth Fairy, oil on canvas, 17"x13"

Cornelia was born in Norway in 1979. She graduated from The Florence Academy of Art, in 2007, and from University of Victoria, British Colombia in Canada in 2003, where she achieved a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree. In University she became acquainted with the paradigms of conceptual art, and became even more determined to pursue classical realism.

She began to paint with oil in her late teens. She is particularly interested in depicting human emotion and expression as a way to convey a mood, story or insight. Her interests have expanded over time to include the serenity of still lives and the intimacy of interiors. She currently lives and works in Florence, and teaches drawing and painting at The Florence Academy of Art as a principal instructor.

Robert Bodem (b.1971)

Let the Words be Yours, I am Done with Mine,2009, Bronze Sculpture

Robert Christian Bodem (b.1971, Minneapolis, Minnesota) graduated cum laude in Sculpture from Boston University in 1995 where he also received a Master of Arts in 1998. In that same year, Robert was a recipient of the prestigious Albert S. and Ester B. Kahn Award for his talent in figurative sculpture. During his undergraduate studies, he worked as an assistant to the sculptor Dimitri Hadzi. He later spent a year as a sculpture student at The Florence Academy of Art (1995-1996), to return in 1998 as the Academy's principal Sculpture instructor. He became Director of the Sculpture program in 2003.

His exhibitions include group and juried shows throughout Massachusetts and New York. Robert was selected to take part in the 2002 National Sculpture Society Annual Awards Exhibition in 2002. Group exhibitions include: “Realism Revisited”, Panorama Museum, Germany, 2003, "Realism Revisited", Hirschl and Adler Galleries, Inc., New York, and The Florence Academy of Art First Annual Alumni Exhibition, Florence, Italy, 2005.

“Nature is a great teacher, and working from direct observation allows me to unlock some of her mysteries. The forms that I am able to bring to the surface should clarify my interpretation of human relationships. To copy nature is an impossibility, but to seek an understanding of particular human emotions, to attempt to clarify emotional content through silent sculptural form, is within the artist's reach. I feel it is necessary to study life. Drawing on the inspiration I receive from the subject is an attempt to make poetry of the form, and ultimately, present the viewer with those essential forms that expand our knowledge of how we interrelate to one another.”

View Bodem's Art: www.galeriemichael.com/artists/bodem-robert/

Goya: Spain's Rembrandt

Francisco de Goya, born 1746 Fuendetodos, Aragón, Spain and is Spain’s most influential Master Painter and Printmaker of the 18^th century. Goya is to Spain as Rembrandt is to the Netherlands. From an early age Goya studied to be a painter. At the age of 14 Goya entered into apprenticeship with Jose Juzan, a local Spanish Master Painter, and then later went to apprentice with Anton Raphael Mengs, popular artist with the Spanish Royals, laying a strong foundation in the niche of Spain’s Royal families.

In 1763 and 1766 Goya was rejection by the Royal Academy of Art but did happen to enter and win 2^nd place at a completion in the City of Parma, Rome. Later Goya began to paint with Francisco Bayeu y Subias, this who Goya picked up the color palette and tonalities that he became famous for.

In 1783 Goya was hired by the Spanish Crown to create designs for tapestry’s and eventually created hundreds of works that not only changed art history but chronicled the political and social world. Goya’s artistic mastery was very scholarly and highly prized however this isn’t all he is known for. Goya took artistic liberties with his art by taking his personal views and outer imperfections of the royalty depicted and placed them within the art. Many of the people painted were subject to actual renditions of their likeness, sparing no mole melancholy smirk or crocked smile which was extremely radical of the time. But somehow he escaped the scrutiny of the court, perhaps because of his close relationship with Queen Sophia. The Queen was a huge admirer of Francisco de Goya’s work as was King Charles IV and eventually the Queen would save him from persecution later in his career.

Francisco de Goya grew ill in1792 with a combination of nervous and physical troubles, which have yet to be diagnosed even today. This illness left Goya almost def and took hold of his art. His subject matters and palate became an outward depiction of his inner turmoil; bitter, secretive, and dark.

Like his successor Picasso, Goya took major political stances with his art especially turning the later dark periods in his life. The Spanish Inquisition was well into fruition and drew Francisco de Goya further and further into a torturous dark place allowing for personal angst and desolation to fester inside. Goya combined his inner pain with the pain of the Spanish Inquisition, social anxiety, and widespread corruption of the Catholic Church giving way to the perfect rendition of dark and lucid trepidation of 80 etchings, Los Caprichos.

Feburary 6^th, 1799 Goya finished work on his most famous and treacherous series Los Caprichos, created during the Spanish Inquisition. The works sold for 320 Reales about 35 dollars for the set, about 35 cents a print. Only 27 copies were sold and Goya stopped the sale of the works.

This series is by far one of the most politically charged statements of its time. So much so that Goya withdrew the works from the public after selling only a handful party because of the inquisition and fear of the Crown implicating him in a plot against it and partly because of its failure to sell.

However, Goya did not slip by persecution as he hoped and was brought in for questioning. Fortunately due to Francisco de Goya’s relationship with the queen of Spain he was let go and gave the plates and prints to King Charles IV. Some history books claim this was Goya’s decision but one can speculate that Francisco de Goya ‘agreed’ or was ‘persuaded’ to hand over the 80 plates to Spain as a barter for his freedom. While other historians state that the Spanish government demanded the unsold works and copper plates be handed over and thus saved Goya from a life of imprisonment or even death. (The Spanish government held the collection of etchings for many years before allowing the world to see them. In fact it wasn’t until the 1950’s did Spain allow the works to be seen in public.)

Between 1815 and 1824 Goya created his final print series Los Proverbios a series of 18 etchings depicting satirical rendition of life in Spain and others nightmarish darkness or evil. The working proofs were called Los Disparates or “Follies” and thus known by the two titles. These works are also very much tied into his Black Paintings period created in the same time period. The Los Proverbios could be considered the print versions of the Black Paintings.

In1819 Goya had moved completely into himself working on a series of 14 paintings called the Black Paintings, again referencing witchcraft and war similar to that of the Los Caprichos series but much darker and less political. It is speculated that the 14 works were never intended to be on display by the artist, painted directly on the walls and never mentioned in writings. The Black Paintings are on permanent display at the Museo del Prado, housing the largest public collection on Goya’s art.

By 1845 Goya lost all faith and nationality with Spain and moved to Bordeaux (and only visited Spain twice after that) where he died in 1928 at the age of 82.

Joan Miro Biography

(1893-1983)

Joan Miro was born April 20, 1893 in Barcelona to Michel Miro Adzerias a goldsmith, and Dolores Ferra, the daughter of a cabinetmaker. At an early age, Miro attended drawing lessons in the evenings after school. At 14, after a brief period of time at a school of commerce in Barcelona he entered the La Lonja Academy of Fine Arts where he came under the influence of two teachers: Modesto Urgelle and Jose Pasco. He continued his studies with Pasco while working as a clerk in a business house until a serious illness caused him a leave of absence. Then in 1912 he entered the art school of Francisco Gali in Barcelona. During his years at the school he became interested and influenced by contemporary painting, Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism.

He attended drawing sessions of the Sant Lluch Circle, where the architect Gaudi had been a student. In 1916 he visited an exhibition of French art organized by Vollard in Barcelona. During this time Miro met many influential figures of the art world, such as F. Picabia, the founder of the Dada review “391,” Marie Laurencin, and Max Jacob. He had his first exhibition in 1918 at the Gallery Dalmau, and in the same year became a member of the Agrupacio Courbet, a group of young painters around Artigas. He painted “detailist” landscapes at this time. Then in 1919 Miro took his first visit to Paris, where he met and became friends with Picasso. He spent the subsequent winters in Paris, returning to Montroig with his family for the summer. At the end of 1920 he took a studio at 45 rue Blomet in Paris.

His first Paris exhibition in 1921, organized by Dalmau at the Galerie La Licorne was a complete failure. Until his next exhibition in 1923 Miro established a close relationship with the neighboring artists surrounding his studio in Paris; and with Henry Miller and Hemingway. Then in 1924 he joined Andre Breton Louis Aragon, and Paul Eluard in the Surrealist group, and in 1925 took part in the Surrealist exhibition at Galerie Pierre. During the years that followed he lived next to and worked closely with Max, Ernst, Magritte, Eluard, and Arp, he was married in 1930 to Pilar Juncosa on October 12^th, and continued exhibiting with the Surrealists from New York to London.

After the outbreak of war in Spain in 1936 he left, not to return for four years. He had 22 works included in the International Surrealist exhibition in the same year, at the New Burlington Galleries in London. In 1940 while beginning his Constellations series finished the next year, Miro returned to Paris in the face of the advancing German army. He returned to Spain that same year. In 1942 Miro returned to live in Barcelona, he begins to work with ceramics in collaboration with Artigas. He makes his first visit to the United States in 1947, and returns to Paris the next year where he produced numerous engravings and lithographs.

Museum collections include but not limited to…

• Hermitage Museum
• Museum of Modern Art, New York
• Guggenheim Museum, New York
• Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota
• National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC
• Tate Gallery, London, UK
• San Diego Museum of Art
• Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran
• Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
• Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Museum, Quebec
• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan
• Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland
• Museo Patio Herreriano de Valladolid, Spain
• New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
• Philadelphia Museum of Art, Palazzo Forti, Verona
• Reina Sofía National Museum, Madrid
• Staatsgalerie Stuttgart,
• Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio
• Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
  
• and counting....
  

Picasso's Women!

Picasso's Armchair Woman Apres Cranach

Picasso, Pablo

Portrait de Jeune Fille, D'apres Cranach le Jeune. II

Linocut on paper

911214

Lucas Cranach the Younger is a painter and engraver of the Renaissance art German, born in Wittenberg on 4 October 1515 and died in Weimar in 1586 .

Son of Lucas Cranach the Elder , it supports the activity of his father and the family workshop from 1525. His style is so close to that of the latter it is difficult to distinguish clearly between the two works from each other, especially from the 1530s and the death of his brother Hans in 1537.

In 1540, he married Barbara Bruck, daughter of Gregor von Brück, (Chancellor of the Elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise), then widowed, remarried Schurff Magdalene, niece of Philip Melanchthon (a famous humanist). In 1550, the captivity of his father, he became head of the workshop, and the latter's death in 1553, became its owner.

From 1549 to 1568 he served on City Council Wittenberg, successively holding the posts of chancellor and then mayor. Orders for the princes of Saxony, ensuring their prosperity, until his death in 1586.

Right image: Cranach the Younger's Portrait of a Woman

EDDY, Hunter b. 1967

Hunter Eddy was born in 1967 and grew up in Rutland Vermont. He decided to pursue a career in art after years of drawing in his childhood. He attended the Art Institute of Boston and graduated with the honor of an "Excellence in Illustration" award from the College. His work after graduation included Aesthetics Signage Company, as well as freelance illustrator for private clients. He spent time in Italy studying landscape painting and drawing with the Boston Visual School under the direction of painters John Lanza and George Gabin. He also studied drawing and painting with Boston artist Tom Oulette where he developed his interests in traditional drawing techniques.

He then made his decision to undertake full time study at The Florence Academy of Art under the direction of Daniel Graves. After the first year he was made an assistant teacher in the program and has been with the academy ever since. He has taught the advanced painting and drawing courses and is currently co-Director of the painting program. His work has been exhibited and sold at various galleries around the world.

RANOCCHI, Augusto b.1931

Born 1931 in Urbino Italy, Augusto Ranocchi received traditional artistic training from the Instituto di Belle Arti and the Academia di Belle Arti in Rome. In 1981 Ranocchi moved to Los Angeles and has exhibited in several one-man shows. One can see the effects of the California lifestyle on his artwork. He has developed a dynamic contemporary style of cast, powerful color planes, lyrical gestural strokes and strong geometric structure. He has introduced collage and the use of metallic paints in addition to using "found surfaces" such as rope, yarn and stripes of canvas.

Major commissions include canvases for the LAX Hilton and Anaheim Hilton Hotels, McDonalds corporate art collection and his work was recently acquired for the luxurious Remington Hotel in Houston. In 1986, Augusto returned to his native Italy where he is currently working on numerous projects at his atelier outside Rome. Augusto Ranocchi is proud to be the most commissioned artist by the Vatican in the twentieth century.

Pablo Picasso 1881-1973

Pablo Picasso was not only the greatest painter and most innovative sculptor of the 20th century; he was also its foremost printer. His published prints total approximately 2000, including images pulled from metal, stone, wood, linoleum and celluloid. His unpublished prints, perhaps 200 more, have yet to be exactly counted.

Picasso’s prints demonstrate his intuitive and characteristic ability to recognize and exploit the possibilities inherent in any medium in which he chose to work. Once he had mastered the traditional methods of a print medium, such as etching on metal, Picasso usually experimented further, pursuing, for example, scarcely known intaglio techniques such as sugar-lift aquatint.

Early on the copperplate, with its variants of the etching and drypoint, fascinated the young artist. In the Parisian ateliers of the masters of this craft—Eugene Delatre, Louis Forn, and above all Roger Lacouriere—he was introduced to many new techniques. Picasso later acquired his own press on which he made many trial proofs and further explored the secrets of printmaking.

Alex Renoir: A Visual Composer

When one looks at a painting by Alexandre Renoir one will see a glimpse at the “Impressionist” movement as characterized by an artist’s ability to render a fleeting moment in time, creating candid compositions, and capturing an “impression” of the ever changing effects of light and atmospheric compositions. Viewers can detect Alexandre’s great-grandfather’s artistic essence and techniques in the works he is creating today, which are augmented with his own original flair.

The use of various palette knives in oil paint allows Alexandre to create a sculptural feel to the canvas. The paint is very thick and bold. It allows one to feel good. Impressionism is one of those styles that include the viewer as much as it does the artist. No two people will see the canvas the same way.

His paintings evoke a certain magic within. You can see the expressions on the viewers faces. It’s that invisible bond between the viewer and the painting. It captures the soul and brings a serenity that is not explainable.

The textures and colors flow across the canvas creating an affect that is captivating. His style is a mix of Impressionism-old and new. We delight in the results of his strokes of genius.

Alexandre Renoir was born in 1974 in Cagne Sur Mer in the south of France. We now have a great opportunity to experience his ethereal work.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir Biography

RENOIR, Pierre Auguste (1841-1919)

Born in Limoges, France, Pierre Auguste Renoir moved to Paris with his family when he was just four years old. At the tender age of thirteen, young Renoir worked at a porcelain factory where he learned his earliest lessons of color and drawing and became a skilled decorator of fine china. The budding artist often visited the Louvre, which was still half-palace and half-museum. There the young budding artist began his formative studies of the French masters.

In 1862, Renoir joined the classical painting school of Charles Gleyre, where he met Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille, and Claude Monet, who were all exploring plein air painting and studying the effects of color and light.

He first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1864, but his recognition did not come for nearly a decade. Through the 1860s, he sometimes could hardly afford to even buy paints. Finally in 1874, he displayed six works at the first Salon des Réfuses, the pioneer exhibition of the Impressionists. With a new avant-garde audience, Renoir found acceptance and recognition of his extraordinary abilities.

Although he was one of the most controversial Impressionists, Renoir eventually established himself with the general public and eventually participated in the official Salons. By 1880, he also began concentrating on painting the female figure. But Renoir never gave up his roots as a traditional arts craftsman and as an admirer of the old masters. In the early 1880s Renoir had the feeling of exhaustion and that he had done everything he could do with Impressionist style.

Starting in 1881, Renoir traveled to Algeria, Spain, and Italy, absorbing the styles and techniques of Delacroix, Velazquez, Raphael, and Titian. Through the 1880s, he worked with the Italian style of restrained brushwork and empathetic modeling of subjects, focusing on details and more elaborate lines. In 1883, he spent a prolific summer painting at Guernsey, an island in the English Channel.

As Renoir matured, his style changed again, growing softer and more sketchily outlined. He used very strong colors—often reds and oranges—and thick brush strokes. His preferred subjects were voluptuous young female nudes.

Stricken with severe arthritis, by 1903 he was hardly able to hold the brush. Yet, still determined to paint, he resorted to strapping the brush to his wrist. This improvised technique affected his style in the last decade of his life, but it allowed him to continue painting through the last years of his life. At the end of his life in 1919, Renoir had the rare opportunity to see his own paintings hanging at the Louvre alongside the masterpieces that influenced him as a young boy.

Museum Collections include…

• Art Institute of Chicago
• Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge
• J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
• Louvre Museum, Paris
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
• Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
• National Gallery of Canada, National Gallery, London
• Norton Museum of Art, Florida
• State Hermitage Museum, Russia
• Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums, Scotland
• Accademia Carrara, Italy
• Appleton Museum of Art, Florida
• Chrysler Museum, Virginia
• Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio
• Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio
• Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
• Folkwang Museum, Germany
• Joslyn Art Museum, Nebraska
• Le Chateau-Musee de Dieppe, France
• Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Quebec
• Musée d’Orsay, Paris
• Musee des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux
• Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
• Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon
• Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo, Brazil
• National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
• National Museum, Sweden
• New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana
• Norton Simon Museum, California
• Portland Museum of Art, Maine
• Reading Public Museum, Pennsylvania
• Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel
• Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Connecticut
• Wright Museum of Art at Beloit College, Wisconsin

Alexandre Renoir Biography

Alexandre RENOIR (b. 1974)

Alexandre Renoir was born in Cagnes Sur Mer in the south of France. When he was 4, the family moved to Canada, but even after leaving France, as the great-grand son of the great French Impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alexandre grew-up surrounded by art and artists.

His famous family includes film director Jean Renoir, actor Pierre Renoir, director of photography Claude Renoir Jr., and Claude's daughter actress Sophie Renoir, to name a few.

Artistic from a young age, Alexandre went to various arts-oriented schools including the Virginia Park School for the artistically gifted and the Victoria School for the Arts and Performance where he graduated in 1993. In addition to his formal education he also attended classes at the Alberta Museum on Aboriginal Arts and Crafts garnering experience in sculpture, pottery, woodworking, stone carving, commercial art, photography and painting.

His first serious artistic venture was with jewelry design, gemology and goldsmithing in a family venture which utilized the abundant local occurrence of the rare precious stone ammonite.

Although he was immersed in the arts and culture of his environment, Alexandre remained primarily an onlooker until his drawing abilities were tapped by his brother Emmanuel. During a visit to La Jolla, Emmanuel gave Alexandre some drawing paper and challenged him to draw with charcoal. The results were impressive, delighting both Alexandre and his brother. From the first sheet, Alexandre could naturally draw in various styles; his charcoal drawings are created with a sense of ease and grace that is reminiscent of the beauty and charm of the impressionism period.

Alexandre's works currently reside in private collections in numerous cities throughout North America, Asia and Europe.