Creator story
Surprising fact
Crippled by severe arthritis in old age, Renoir kept painting with brushes strapped to his bandaged hands.
Source: Wikipedia / WikimediaImpressionism
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) was a founder of Impressionism and its most joyful voice, painting sunlight, flowers and radiant, sensuous figures. His Luncheon of the Boating Party glows with the pleasure of everyday life.
Renoir insisted painting should be lovely and life-affirming; few artists captured warmth and light so seductively.
- Co-founded Impressionism alongside Monet, painting light dappling through leaves and skin.
- Famed for radiant scenes of leisure like Bal du moulin de la Galette.
- Never stopped working, painting through crippling arthritis until his death.
Key works
Two works that open the world of Pierre-Auguste Renoir
These works make it easiest to see how the artist changed form, content, and the very way art could exist in culture.
1876
Bal du moulin de la Galette
Bal du moulin de la Galette is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
1880
Luncheon of the Boating Party
Luncheon of the Boating Party is an 1881 painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Exhibited at the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition in 1882, it was identified as the best painting in the show by three critics.