Renoir: Hyperion
Renoir: Hyperion
HYPERION
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Property of
RENOIR
RENOIR
BY
ANDRE LECLERC
"'T'HE
RENOIR
essential thing in art cannot be explained.'* This phrase of Renoir's
-* places him outside and above any definite rule to which his manner
of painting could be reduced. His art is nothing if not spontaneous; it serves
to illustrate no theory, it has no social portent and no concern with the real-
istic trend of his time. To our modern eyes it needs no explanation ;it is, as
painting but also, it is said, his voice was noticed by the school inspector,
who at that time happened to be Gounod.
Upon leaving school, Renoir earned his living by decorating china,
window-blinds, fans, anything that came his way. His ambition, however,
was to paint "real pictures," and with this in view he entered the studio of
Gleyre, an academic painter then in great repute. There he met Monet and
Sisley, amongst other young painters, all of whom, and in particular Frederic
[51
Bazille, became his friends and influenced him profoundly. Thev were all
interested in the new, realistic ideas as upheld by Courbet and Manet in
defiance of public taste.
was Renoir who, finding Gleyre's academic tuition stifling, suggested
It
to his friends that they strike out on their own. Under Monet's leadership
and the patronage of the aristocratic Degas, the group started to study by
themselves the magic -of lfght and the mingling in the eye of primary colors
set side by side according to the theories of Chevreul. They discussed their
ideas and attempts every evening at the Cafe Guerbois, where they were
joined by Pissarro, Cezanne and his friend Zola, as well as other painters and
writers, most of whom became well-known. On fine days they met at Bar-
bizon or in the country-side nearer Paris. Their practice was to paint in the
open and not in the false light of the studio as had hitherto been the rule.
Renoir, however, had no hard and fast habits. Sometimes he found out-
door light disturbing and preferred to paint in his studio on Montmartre. He
also disliked the rough aspect given to painting by the juxtaposition of
touches; most of his pictures have a smooth surface. He did not avoid the
use of black and was a slave to no theory, beauty being his only aim.
He greatly differed from his friends not only in his manner of painting
but also in his choice of subjects. Monet chiefly painted landscapes in which
he strove to catch the very vibration of light, whilst Cezanne, to whom
painting did not come easily, pursued form and color in still lifes and land-
scapes of a geometrical design. Degas in his Dancers studied movement and
line while his laundresses and realistic nudes portray social interest and pity.
As for Renoir, his passion was for the human form with no ideas attached.
He found nothing more beautiful than the texture of skin, the molding of
breasts and hips, the chubbiness of children, the play of light on hair. All
his models are full of health and high spirits and sunlight pervades nearly
all his paintings.
The war of 1870, during which Renoir served in a remount depot at
Tarbes, broke up for a while the group of friends, but when it was over they
all returned to Paris, except Frederic Bazille, Renoir's particular crony, who
was killed.
[8]
THE SEINE AT CHATOU The Art Gallery of Toronto
His chief interest lay in the museums of Italy and Spain; indeed Renoir
disliked travelling and found no lack of subjects athome.
After his final return to France, hislife was uneventful; his painting
and his family absorbed him He
often painted his three small sons:
entirely.
Pierre, Jean and the youngest, Claude, known as "Coco." Most of his other
models were servant-girls, and for that matter it is said that he made every
woman within reach sit for him, dressed or nude, provided she were young
and reasonably plump and that her skin "held the light well." He had no
use for thin women, nor did he ever paint winter landscapes, people at work,
or anything that was not an expression of the sheer joy of living.
[9]
YOUNG GIRL LOOKING AT FLOWERS
Fransworth Museum, Wellesley College
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IN THE MEADOW detail
Courtesy Lewisohn Collection, N. Y.
[29]
MOTHER AND CHILD
[30] Private Collection. San Francisco
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[321 THE LUNCHEON Photo Durand-Ruel
THE BOX Collection Samuel Courtauld, London [33]
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THE SOURCE Durand-Ruel
[44] SELF-PORTRAIT Mr. William H. Taylor. Philadelphia
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST'S FATHER
Courtesy of the City Art Museum, St. Louis [45]
Leclerc, Andre"
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