Monday, March 24, 2014

Impressionism (pt. 11)

Pierre Auguste Renoir suffered from rheumatism and was crippled.  He painted using a paintbrush tied to his wrist.  This caused him to adopt a painting style of light and wispy brushstrokes that in turn create something of a dreamy, cloudy impression of the subject.  Renoir's paintings dealt with light and atmospheric effects within environments, same as Monet, but his art took a step closer to a form of sentimentality.  He communicated a feeling along with each of his works; that, looking at a painting such as this (a portrait of Édouard Manet's niece), we can almost feel the softness of the subject's nature.  This young girl is painted with delicate brushstrokes to convey the gentleness of her character—and also the frailty of her condition.  This portrait was created just two years after the death of her father.  In less than a year she would become an orphan.

2 comments:

  1. I have the original painting actually signed by Renoir. He was not to the point of having his hands tied to the paint brush at this time. He painted Berthe Morisot and Julie Monet after this painting was done. Both the paintings were done closely similar to each other especially with the use of orange and yet he makes it work.

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    1. Wow, that's incredible that you have a signed Renoir painting! It certainly is a beautiful portrait. Thanks for sharing!

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