Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pierre Auguste Renoir, together with Monet, was one of the two leading painters of the impressionist school. He was close to Monet, but he also was influenced by the realism of Courbet and the light palette of the rococo painters Watteau, Fragonard, and Boucher. The human figure---and human flesh---was one of his main interests, as it was also with Manet (but not with Monet). He preferred bright colors---pink, orange, red---and cheerful subjects. His output was amazing---nearly 6,000 pictures, many of them in U.S. collections. He achieved great success during his lifetime. His last years were spent in the south of France. Though crippled by arthritis in his last years, he continued to paint and even to produce some sculpture.