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.
Parisians would flock to Chatou's MaisonFournaise to rent rowing skiffs, eat a good meal, or stay the night. In 1857, the entrepreneur AlphonseFournaise bought land in Chatou to open a boat rental, restaurant, and small hotel for the new tourist trade. From the mid 1870s, Renoir often visited the MaisonFournaise to enjoy its convivial atmosphere and rural beauty. He painted scenes of the restaurant, as well as several portraits of Fournaise family members and landscapes of the surrounding area. In fact, Renoir occasionally traded paintings with the Fournaise family for food and lodging.
Renoir and Friends
Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party not only conveys the light-hearted leisurely mood of the MaisonFournaise, but also reflects the character of mid- to late-nineteenth century French social structure. The restaurant welcomed customers of many classes including bourgeois businessmen, society women, artists (Renoir and Caillebotte), actresses, writers (Guyde Maupassant), critics and, with the new, shorter work week--a result of the industrial revolution--seamstresses and shop girls. This diverse group embodied a new, modern Parisian society that accepted, as it continued to develop and advanced the French Revolution's promise of liberté, egalité, fraternité.
Julie Manet, the daughter of Berthe Morisot the famous impressionist painter, and Eugene Manet, the brother of Edouard Manet was a favorite model of Renoir in his later years. “Le chapeau epingle” is a superb example of the artist’s delicate control of the line even at an advanced age. While many people identify Renoir as primarily a colorist, his delicate use the etching needle in this print testifies to his mastery of this medium
What makes “Le chapeau epingle” such an important print in Renoir’s oeuvre, is that it contains the key elements so often found in his best work; the young girls, the special moment, the soft gestures of the hands and faces, and the wonderful Belle-Epoque hats.
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
FitzwilliamMuseum at the University of Cambridge
J. PaulGettyMuseum, Los Angeles
LouvreMuseum, Paris
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
National Gallery of Art, WashingtonD.C.
National Gallery of Canada, National Gallery, London
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 VirginiaParkSchool for the artistically gifted and the VictoriaSchool for the Arts and Performance where he graduated in 1993. In addition to his formal education he also attended classes at the AlbertaMuseum 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.
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.
