RENOIR, PIERRE-AUGUSTE

born February 25, 1841, Limoges, France died December 3, 1919, Cagnes French painter originally associated with the Impressionist movement. His early works were typically Impressionist snapshots of real life, full of sparkling colour and light. By the mid-1880s, however, he had broken with the movement to apply a more disciplined, formal technique to portraits and figure paintings, particularly of women. Additional reading Surveys of the artist's life and works include Anne Distel, Renoir: A Sensuous Vision (1995; originally published in French, 1993); and Sophie Monneret, Renoir (1990; originally published in French, 1989), which is magnificently illustrated. A well-illustrated and well-documented overview of the artist's career is offered in Barbara Ehrlich White, Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters (1984, reissued 1988). Exhibition catalogs provide the most comprehensive study of Renoir's oeuvre, including Anne Distel and John House, Renoir (1985), which presents a detailed chronology; and Gtz Adriani, Renoir (1999; first published in German, 1996), which spans Renoir's complete career. Among the more insightful contemporary accounts of the artist are Ambroise Vollard, Renoir: An Intimate Record, trans. by Harold L. Van Doren and Randolph T. Weaver (1925, reprinted 1990; originally published in French, 1920), written by his dealer; and Jean Renoir, Renoir, My Father, trans. from French (1962, reprinted 1988).Specific aspects of Renoir's development as an artist are discussed in John Rewald (ed.), Renoir Drawings (1946, reissued 1958). Denis Rouart, Renoir (1985; trans. from French rev. and enlarged ed., 1954), focuses on the artist's career after 1890. Studies on individual themes in his paintings include Isabelle Cahn, Renoir Nudes (1996); Colin B. Bailey, Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an Age (1997), which features extensive information about his sitters; and Eliza E. Rathbone et al., Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party (1996), a collection of essays.