French artists are the greatest names of world culture. Moreover, it was the French masters who broke all records for the price of works of art at the best auctions. It is only a pity that their authors received only posthumous fame, but such are the vicissitudes of the fate of many creators of beauty.

French Artists: The Phenomenon of French Impressionism

So, the French artists of the 20th century became the most expensively sold, and therefore the most famous and recognized in the world. Even people who are completely inexperienced in fine arts know their names. First of all, these are impressionist artists. France was inhospitable to them during their lifetime, but after death they became a real national pride.

The greatest artists of France, who received worldwide recognition, fame and fame in wide circles, - this Pierre Renoir, Edouard Manet, ‎Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, Claude Monet And Paul Gauguin. All of them are representatives of the most famous and best-selling trend in painting of the 20th century - Impressionism. Needless to say, this trend originated in France, and it most fully reveals its place and significance in the history of world art. An amazing combination of original technique and great emotional expressiveness has fascinated and continues to fascinate connoisseurs of beauty all over the world in impressionism.

Artists of France: the formation of French painting

But French artists are not only impressionism. As elsewhere in Europe, the heyday of painting here fell on the Renaissance. Of course, France cannot boast of giants like Leonardo da Vinci or Raphael, but still made its contribution to the common cause. But Italian influences were too strong to form the original national school.

The first great French artist who completely freed himself from external influences was Jacques Louis David, who is rightfully considered the founder of the national painting tradition. The most famous painting of the artist was the famous equestrian portrait of Emperor Napoleon called "Napoleon at the St. Bernard Pass" (1801).

The artists of France of the 19th century, working in a realistic direction, of course, are less known than the Impressionists, but nevertheless they made a tangible contribution to the development of world painting. But the 20th century was the triumph of French art, and Paris became the center of the muses. The famous district of the French capital Montmartre, which gave shelter to dozens of poor artists, who later entered the golden fund of the heritage of mankind, including the names Renoir, van gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, as well as Picasso And Modigliani, became the center fine arts, and still attracts crowds of tourists. famous artists The French of modern times also traditionally live in Montmartre.

There was a time when artists were not appreciated for their work. But these days, these personalities are highly valued, regardless of whether they belong historical times or alive. French painters are especially revered for their amazing and delightful work.

Here are 10 of the most famous and prominent French artists and painters. Let's go back to the past and consider it all together. Please enjoy!

TOP 10 most famous French artists and painters:

10. Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

Paul Gauguin is a French painter and painter of post-impressionist times. He made a great contribution to the development of avant-garde paintings. Gauguin was in close association with Van Gogh.

9. Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Vincent van Gogh belongs to the post-impressionist period. He is one of the most famous painters and artists in the world. Vincent is known for his courage and bright pictures and was born in the Netherlands.

8. Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

Camille Pissarro belongs to the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist eras. He is one of the most influential and best painters of all time. He worked on new and unique styles in his paintings, which could give an advantage to his career.

7. Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Edouard Manet is known for his contributions to the Realism and Impressionism schools. He was a great and innovative painter. He turned the works into impressionism to give them a modern look.

6. Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863)

Eugène Delacroix is ​​known for romantic paintings and works of art. He received inspiration in this work from the Venetian Renaissance painters and Rubens.

5. Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)

Paul Cezanne was born in the 18th century. An amazing artist of the Impressionist era. He started his career in impressionistic forms but developed himself as an innovative artist, giving the best works art in the 19th century.

4. Charles-Francois Dabigny (1817-1878)

Charles-Francois Dabigny is one of the most famous artists of all time. He is still remembered for his traditional landscape paintings and used to impress others with unique works of art.

3. August Renoir (1841-1919)

August Renoir belongs to the era of impressionism. He is one of the most famous painters who played a key role in the development of impressionist works.

2. Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Claude Monet is an impressionist painter. He is one of the most influential painters of the 18th century. He was strongly influenced by the works of high school students and his own works like "Impression", "Sunrise" and others.

1. Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Edgar Degas is considered the forerunner of Impressionism. He painted realistic aspects of human life. His style of work was really unique and very impressive.

Details Category: Fine arts and architecture of the late 16th-18th centuries Published on 27.04.2017 14:46 Views: 3249

IN early XVIII in. appeared in France a new style- rococo.

Translated from the French rococo (rocaille) - "shell". Name of this artistic style reveals it feature- love for complex shapes, bizarre lines, reminiscent of the elegant silhouette of a shell.
The Rococo style did not last long (until about the 40s), but its influence on European culture turned out to be very strong.
In the second half of the XVIII century. a new surge of interest in ancient culture. This was partly due to the excavations of Pompeii, which discovered unique monuments of art. On the other hand, this interest was promoted by the ideas of the French Enlightenment: the ideal of art and public life they saw in history and culture Ancient Greece And ancient rome. Thus, a new style was formed - neoclassicism. This was not the case in all countries. For example, in Italy, the Baroque style existed simultaneously with the Rococo style, while in France, the Baroque did not receive much development. In Russia, rococo and neoclassicism complemented each other.
In the XVIII century. customers no longer played a major role in the fate of the artist: the main judge of works of art was public opinion. Art criticism appeared: Denis Diderot, Jean Jacques Rousseau and others.
An important event in the artistic life of France in the XVIII century. became public exhibitions - Salons. Since 1667, they were organized annually by the Paris Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture with the support of the royal court. Success at the Salon was recognition for a painter or sculptor. It was not only the French who aspired to participate in the Salons, so Paris gradually turned into a pan-European art center.

Jean Antoine Watteau (1684-1721)

Rosalba Carriera. Portrait of Antoine Watteau (1721)
Antoine Watteau is a French painter of the first third of the 18th century, the founder of the Rococo style.
He discovered in painting the sphere of the subtlest emotions, consonant with the lyrics of the landscape.
A. Watteau was born in provincial town in a family of roofers. Already in early years his artistic ability, and his father apprenticed him to a local painter of insignificant talent. Very soon, the mentor ceased to be useful to the future artist. Antoine Watteau, against the will of his father, secretly leaves his native town of Valenciennes and travels to Paris on foot, where he is employed in a painting workshop on the Notre Dame bridge, the owner of which organized the serial production of cheap copies of paintings in the “common taste” for wholesale buyers. Watteau mechanically copied the same popular paintings, and in free time painted from nature. He was exceptionally industrious.

Antoine Watteau "The Capricious" (c. 1718). State Hermitage(Petersburg)
Soon Watteau found the first patrons - Pierre Mariette and his son Jean, engravers and collectors, owners of a large company that traded prints and paintings. At the Mariettes, Watteau got the opportunity to get acquainted with the works of Rembrandt, Titian, Rubens. Through the mediation of the Mariettes, Watteau becomes a student of the artist Claude Gillot, master theatrical scenery and creator of small paintings. “From this master, Watteau took only a taste for the grotesque and for the comic, as well as a taste for modern subjects to which he later devoted himself. And yet we must admit that Gillo Watteau finally figured out himself and that since then the signs of talent that had to be developed have become more pronounced ”(Biographer of the artist Edm-Francois Gercin).

Antoine Watteau "Actors" French comedy» (c. 1712). State Hermitage Museum (Petersburg)
At 33, Watteau becomes the most popular painter in Paris, which contributed to his European fame.

Antoine Watteau "Gilles" (1718-1719). Louvre (Paris)
Here is how Watteau M.Yu. speaks about this picture. German, leading researcher at the Russian Museum: “In the history of art, Gilles has practically no analogies. Few people wrote actors at all. Moreover, no one dared to show the actor in complete inactivity. For Watteau himself, this was a brave step: to paint a figure in the very middle of the canvas, filling most of it with a wide hoodie that completely hides the body of the comedian, and in the depths to depict the faces of other actors, in sharp contrast with the almost motionless face of the hero ... Deprived of gestures and facial expressions, symmetrically and flatly inscribed in the canvas, he calmly exists in time, as if forever stopped for him. Everything that is fleeting and transient is alien to him. The bustle behind him is in the movements of the actors. Laughter and fun of the audience is in front of him. And he remains invariably motionless, with a funny and touching reproach in his round, affectionate and intelligent eyes.
Already quite sick, Watteau took up a sign for the antique shop "The Great Monarch" on the Notre Dame bridge. This shop belonged to his friend Gersen.

Antoine Watteau. Signboard of Gersin's shop (1720-1721). Charlottenburg Palace (Berlin)
Watteau painted a picture-sign on two separate and then inserted into a single frame canvases. The action of the picture is transferred from the landscape to the interior. The canvas depicts a spacious shop, which, according to the artist's plan, goes directly to the Parisian pavement.
On the foreground on the left, the servants put the portrait of the recently deceased in a box Louis XIV. IN upper corner there is a portrait of his father-in-law, King Philip IV of Spain, on the right, connoisseurs are carefully studying the picture in an oval frame; landscapes and still lifes coexist here with mythological scenes.
The main feature of this work is its programmatic nature. According to Louis Aragon, Watteau, under the guise of a sign, presented the history of painting as he knew it. This picture has become like an artistic testament of the author. Antoine Watteau died at the age of 36 from tuberculosis.

Monument to Antoine Watteau in his hometown of Valenciennes (1884)
The development of the Rococo style is also associated with the work of Francois Boucher.

François Boucher (1703-1770)

F. Boucher - French painter, engraver, decorator. His works are characterized by exquisite forms, lyrically gentle coloring, gracefulness, coquettishness, sometimes reaching cuteness.

Gustaf Lundberg. Portrait of Francois Boucher
Boucher was a master engraver, illustrated books by Ovid, Boccaccio, Moliere. He created scenery for operas and performances, paintings for the royal tapestry manufactories; performed ornamental paintings of Sevres porcelain, painted fans, performed miniatures, etc.
In painting, he turned to allegorical and mythological subjects, painted genre scenes, pastorals (poetization of peaceful and simple rural life), landscapes, and portraits.

F. Bush. Portrait of Madame de Pompadour
Bush received the title of court painter. He decorated the residences of the king and Madame de Pompadour, private mansions in Paris. IN last years life was the director of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and "the first painter of the king."

F. Bush. Portrait of Marie Buseau, the artist's wife (1733)
Another painting by F. Boucher illustrates an episode of La Fontaine's short story "The Hermit". A young man who decides to seduce a beautiful but timid village girl settles nearby under the guise of a hermit. He manages to convince the girl's mother of her holiness, and she herself takes her daughter to him to listen to his good teachings. Boucher shows an original interpretation of Lafontaine's work, but the landscape occupies the main place in his composition.

F. Boucher “Landscape with a hermit. Brother Luce" (1742). Museum fine arts them. A. S. Pushkin (Moscow)

Democratic views of French art

They were embodied in the work of the "painter of the third estate" Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin, portraits of Maurice Quentin de Latour.

Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin (1699-1779)

Chardin. self-portrait
Chardin consciously avoided plots typical of the art of his time. He mainly painted still lifes and everyday scenes, but in them he expressed his own observations. He was interested in the life of the people of the "third estate" (all groups of the population with the exception of the privileged: the clergy and the nobility).
The activities of Chardin as an artist continued the traditions of the Dutch and Flemish masters and represented the heyday of realism in the 18th century. Even his still life was an aspect for depicting reality. The most ordinary objects became for him sources of composition for depicting harmonious being: jugs, old pots, vegetables, etc.

Chardin "Scat" (1728). Louvre (Paris)
The artist was able to perfectly convey color diversity, he felt the internal interconnection of objects. With small strokes, he conveyed shades of color, possessed the ability to include the influence of sunlight in the image.
Turning to genre painting, to the usual home scenes, Chardin recreated on the canvas a calm, measured way Everyday life close to every person. It was these paintings that strengthened for him one of the prominent places in the history of French painting. In 1728 he became a member of the Paris Academy of Arts, in 1743 - its adviser; later became a member of the Rouen Academy of Sciences, Literature and Fine Arts.
He inspired the most mundane objects and activities: Laundress (1737), Jar of Olives (1760), Attributes of the Arts (1766).

Chardin "Still life with attributes of the arts" (1766 State Hermitage Museum (Petersburg). The painting was commissioned by Catherine II for the building of the Academy of Arts under construction in St. Petersburg
D. Diderot compared his skill with witchcraft: “Oh, Chardin, this is not white, red and black paint that you grind on your palette, but the very essence of objects; you take air and light at the tip of your brush and lay them on the canvas!”

Chardin "Soap Bubbles" (1733-1734). National Gallery of Art, Washington (USA)
A kind of fusion of "gallant" painting and household genre distinguishes the work of Jean Honore Fragonard.

Jean Honore Fragonard (1732-1806)

French painter and engraver. Worked in the Rococo style. Author of more than 550 paintings (not counting drawings and engravings).

J.O. Fragonard. Self-portrait (c. 1760-1770)
He was a student of F. Boucher and J.B.S. Chardin. Initially, he was fond of historical painting, and then began to write in the spirit of Watteau and Boucher. He often has scenes of intimate life, erotic content, decorative panels, portraits, miniatures, watercolors, pastels. He also did etching.
But in the era of classicism lost popularity.

J.O. Fragonard "Latch" (1777). Louvre (Paris)
The painting depicts a love scene: the gentleman, without taking his eyes off the lady, reaches out with his right hand to the door on which he closes the top latch. Left hand the ladies seem to repeat this movement. On the table is an apple, the biblical symbol of temptation and the fall into sin.
IN historical paintings Fragonard is not original. His landscapes are quite embellished. But genre paintings the artist is distinguished by skillful composition, elegance of drawing, delicate coloring and delicate taste: "Music Lesson", "Pastoral", "Bathers", "Sleeping Nymph", "Cupid Taking Off Her Shirt from a Beauty", "Young Guitarist", "Stealth Kiss" .

J.O. Fragonard "Stealth Kiss" Hermitage (Petersburg)
In the middle of the XVIII century. the French Enlightenment put forward the classical ideals of the means of education. A sentimental and moralistic direction appeared in painting, in which the artist Jean-Baptiste Greuze stood out.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805)

J.-B. Dreams. self-portrait
Greuze especially succeeded in the genre of family life with its problems and dramas - here he has few rivals in French painting.

J.-B. Greuze "A Father's Curse" (1777). Louvre (Paris)
The painting depicts a scene of a family drama when the son announces to his father that he is leaving for the army, and the father curses him.
As a portrait painter, he was also at his best, because. understood portraiture differently than his contemporaries, who depicted men as Apollos, and women as Flores and Venuses. His portraits are full of resemblance, filled with life and feelings.

J.-B. Greuze "Portrait of a Girl". National Museum arts of Azerbaijan
There are 11 works by Greuze in the St. Petersburg Hermitage.
In 18th century France increased interest in nature and landscape painting. A type of landscape characteristic of neoclassicism (“architectural fantasy”) was created by Hubert Robert.

Hubert Robert (1733-1808)

Vigée-Lebrun, Marie Elisabeth Louise. Portrait of Hubert Robert (1788) Louvre (Paris)
French landscape painter; gained European fame for his dimensional canvases with romanticized images of ancient ruins surrounded by idealized nature. His nickname was "Robert of the Ruins".

Hubert Robert "Ancient Ruins" (1754-1765). Budapest

Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825)

J.-L. David. Self-portrait (1794)
French painter and teacher, a major representative of French neoclassicism in painting. A sensitive chronicler of his turbulent times.
Born into the family of an iron wholesaler. He was brought up mainly in a family of relatives. When the child's ability to draw was noticed, it was assumed that he would become an architect, like both of his uncles.
David took drawing lessons at the Academy of St. Luke. In 1764, relatives introduced him to Francois Boucher, but due to illness, he could not study with the young man. In 1766, David entered the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and began to study in the workshop of Vienne. In 1775-1780. David studied at the French Academy in Rome, studied ancient art and the work of Renaissance masters.
In 1783 he was elected a member of the Academy of Painting.
Actively participated in the revolutionary movement, was elected a member of the National Convention, joined the Montagnards, led by Marat and Robespierre, voted for the death of King Louis XVI. He paints a number of paintings dedicated to the revolutionaries: “The Oath in the Ballroom” (1791, not finished), “The Death of Marat” (1793). Also at this time he organized mass folk festivals and created the National Museum in the Louvre.

J.-L. David "Death of Marat" (1793). Royal Museums of Fine Arts (Brussels)
This canvas is one of the most famous paintings dedicated to the Great French Revolution.
Jean Paul Marat is a journalist for the radical newspaper Friend of the People, leader of the Jacobins. sick skin disease, Marat did not leave the house and, in order to alleviate his suffering, took baths. On July 13, 1793, he was stabbed to death in his apartment by the noblewoman Charlotte Corday.
The inscription on the wooden pedestal is the author's dedication: "MARATU, David". In Marat's hand is a sheet with the text: “July 13, 1793, Marie Anna Charlotte Corday - to citizen Marat. I am unhappy, and therefore I have the right to your protection. In fact, Marat did not have time to receive this note, because. Korday killed him before.
In 1794 he was imprisoned for revolutionary views.
In 1797, he witnessed the solemn entry into Paris of Napoleon Bonaparte and since then has become his ardent supporter, and after he came to power - the court "first artist". David creates paintings dedicated to Napoleon's passage through the Alps, his coronation, as well as a number of compositions and portraits of people close to Napoleon. After the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, he fled to Switzerland, then moved to Brussels, where he lived until the end of his life.

J.-L. David "Bonaparte at the St. Bernard Pass" (1801)
This picture of David opens the era of romanticism in European painting. It is a highly romanticized equestrian portrait of General Napoleon Bonaparte, who in May 1800 led the Italian army through the St. Bernard Pass high in the Alps.
The natural background also gives a romantic meaning to the picture: steep mountain cliffs, snow, strong wind and bad weather. Below, if you look closely, you can see the carved names of the three great commanders who passed this way: Hannibal, Charlemagne and Bonaparte.

J.-L. David "Coronation of Napoleon" (1805-1808)
The canvas was created under the impression of Rubens' painting "The Coronation of Mary Medici".
Jacques-Louis David was buried in Brussels, and his heart was transported to Paris and buried in the Pere Lachaise cemetery.
In the XVIII century. The historical painters Jean Jouvenet, Nicolas Colombel, Pierre Subleyra, portrait painters Claude Lefebvre, Nicolas Largilier and Hyacinthe Rigaud worked in France.
In the middle of the XVIII century. the Vanlo family was famous, especially the brothers Jean-Baptiste and Charles, and other artists.

Woman with a cat. 1875

French painter, graphic artist and sculptor, one of the main representatives of impressionism. Renoir is known primarily as a master of a secular portrait, not devoid of sentimentality; he was the first of the Impressionists to succeed with wealthy Parisians. In the mid 1880s. actually broke with impressionism, returning to the linearity of classicism, to engrism.

Self-portrait. 1876

Auguste Renoir was born on February 25, 1841 in Limoges, a city located in the south of Central France. Renoir was the sixth child of a poor tailor named Léonard and his wife, Marguerite.

Portrait of Renoir's mother. 1860

In 1844, the Renoirs moved to Paris, and here Auguste entered the church choir at the great Cathedral of Saint-Eustache. He had such a voice that the choir director, Charles Gounod, tried to convince the boy's parents to send him to study music. However, in addition to this, Auguste showed the gift of an artist, and when he was 13 years old, he began to help his family by getting a job with a master, from whom he learned to paint porcelain plates and other dishes. In the evenings, Auguste attended a painting school.

Dance at Bougival. 1883

In 1865, at the house of his friend, the artist Jules Le Coeur, he met a 16-year-old girl, Lisa Treo, who soon became Renoir's lover and his favorite model. In 1870, their daughter Jeanne Marguerite was born, although Renoir refused to acknowledge his paternity officially. Their relationship continued until 1872, when Lisa left Renoir and married another.

Self-portrait. 1875

Renoir's creative career was interrupted in 1870-1871, when he was drafted into the army during the Franco-Prussian war, which ended in a crushing defeat for France.

Dance in the countryside. 1883

The portrait of Aline Charigot, Renoir's wife, was probably painted while the family was in the countryside in eastern France. 1885

In 1890, Renoir married Alina Charigot, whom he had met ten years earlier when she was a 21-year-old seamstress.

Motherhood. 1886

They already had a son, Pierre, born in 1885, and after the wedding they had two more sons - Jean, born in 1894, and Claude (known as "Coco"), born in 1901 and became one of the most beloved models father.

Jean Renoir painting. 1901

By the time his family was finally formed, Renoir had achieved success and fame, was recognized as one of the leading artists of France and managed to receive the title of Knight of the Legion of Honor from the state.

The artist's family. 1896

Renoir's personal happiness and professional success were overshadowed by illness. In 1897, Renoir broke his right arm after falling off his bicycle. As a result, he developed rheumatism, from which he suffered for the rest of his life. Rheumatism made it difficult for Renoir to live in Paris, and in 1903 the Renoir family moved to an estate called "Colette" in the small town of Cagnes-sur-Mer.

Self-portrait. 1899

After an attack of paralysis that occurred in 1912, despite two surgical operations, Renoir was chained to wheelchair, however, he continued to write with a brush, which the nurse put between his fingers.

August Renoir. Self portrait. 1910

In the last years of his life, Renoir gained fame and universal recognition. In 1917, when his "Umbrellas" were exhibited in the London National Gallery, hundreds of British artists and just art lovers sent him congratulations, which said: “From the moment your painting was posted in the same row with the works of the old masters, we experienced the joy that our contemporary took his rightful place in European painting ".

Umbrellas. 1883

Renoir's painting was also exhibited at the Louvre, and in August 1919 the artist visited Paris for the last time to look at it.

Self-portrait. 1910

On December 3, 1919, Pierre-Auguste Renoir died in Cagnes-sur-Mer from pneumonia at the age of 78. Buried in Essua.

Spring bouquet. 1866

Creation

Choice of genres 1862-1873

In early 1862, Renoir passed the exams at the School of Fine Arts at the Academy of Arts and enrolled in Gleyre's workshop. There he met Fantin-Latour, Sisley, Basil and Claude Monet. Soon they became friends with Cezanne and Pizarro, so the backbone of the future Impressionist group was formed.

Camille Monet. 1873

In his early years, Renoir was influenced by the work of the Barbizons, Corot, Prudhon, Delacroix and Courbet.

In the summer of 1868

In 1864, Gleyre closed the workshop, the training ended. Renoir began to paint his first canvases and then for the first time presented the painting "Esmeralda dancing among the tramps" to the Salon. She was accepted, but when the canvas was returned to him, the author destroyed it.

Portrait of the Sisleys. 1868

Paddling pool. 1869

Having chosen genres for his works in those years, he did not change them until the end of his life. This is a landscape - "Jules le Coeur in the Forest of Fontainebleau" (1866), everyday scenes - "The Frog" (1869), "Pont Neuf" (1872), still life - "Spring Bouquet" (1866), "Still Life with a Bouquet and a Fan" (1871), portrait - "Lisa with an umbrella" (1867), "Odalisque" (1870), nude - "Diana the huntress" (1867).

Odalisque. 1870

Still life with a bouquet and a fan. 1871

In 1872, Renoir and his friends created the Anonymous Cooperative Partnership.

Mademoiselle Sicot. 1865

Madame Clementine Valensi Stora. 1870

Camille Monet. 1872

Madame Edouard Bernier. 1871

Woman with a parrot. 1871

Rafa Mater.1871

Unnecessary umbrella. 1872

Driving to the Bois de Boulogne. 1873

Struggle for recognition 1874-1882

The first exhibition of the partnership opened on April 15, 1874. Renoir presented pastel and six paintings, among which were "Dancer" and "Lodge" (both - 1874). The exhibition ended in failure, and the members of the partnership received an insulting nickname - "Impressionists".

Lodge. 1874

The painting depicts a woman (in the foreground) and a man (in the background) seated in an opera box. Renoir's brother, the journalist Edmond Renoir and the Montmartre model Nini Lopez, posed for this picture.

Smiling woman. Portrait of Madame Pechi. 1875

Fishwife. 1875

Madame Victor Choquet. 1875

Despite poverty, it was during these years that the artist created his main masterpieces: Grands Boulevards (1875), Walk (1875), Ball at the Moulin de la Galette (1876), Nude (1876), Nude in the Sunlight" (1876), "Swing" (1876), "First Departure" (1876/1877), "Path in the Tall Grass" (1877).

Ball at the Moulin de la Galette. 1876

Swing. 1876

Portrait of Madame Alphonse Daudet. 1876

Nude. 1876

Young woman braiding her hair. 1876

Renoir gradually ceased to participate in exhibitions of the Impressionists. In 1879, he presented the full-figure Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary (1878) and Portrait of Madame Charpentier with Children (1878) to the Salon in 1879 and achieved universal recognition, and after that financial independence. He continued to write new canvases - in particular, the famous "Clichy Boulevard" (1880), "Breakfast of the Rowers" (1881), "On the Terrace" (1881), which became famous.

Young girl reading a book. 1876

Portrait of Madame Charpentier. 1877

Portrait of actress Jeanne Samary. 1877

Portrait of actress Jeanne Samary. 1878

A cup of chocolate. 1878

In secret. 1878

Portrait of Alfonsine Pechi. 1879

Dinner rowers on the banks of the river. 1879

A young woman sewing. 1879

Portrait of Teresa Berard. 1879

Near the lake. 1880

Rowers breakfast. 1881

The painting was painted in the Fournaise restaurant, located on an island on the Seine River, located in Chatou, a little west of Paris. Renoir loved this place - not only "Breakfast of the Rowers" was painted here, but also some other paintings. In fact, the picture is a group portrait of a meeting of friends. A joyful, relaxed atmosphere reigns, there is no splendor, everyone is in natural, random poses. Behind the railing, dense greenery is visible, beyond which the Seine River peeps.In the painting, Renoir depicted many of his friends and acquaintances.

Two sisters (On the terrace). 1881

Albert Caen, French opera composer. 1881

Girl with a fan. 1881

Girls in black. 1881

Portrait of Alfred Berard with his dog. 1881

Marie-Thérèse Durand-Ruel sewing. 1882

"Engrov period" 1883-1890

Renoir traveled to Algeria, then to Italy, where he became closely acquainted with the works of the Renaissance classics, after which his artistic taste changed. Renoir painted a series of paintings "Dance in the Village" (1882/1883), "Dance in the City" (1883), "Dance in Bougival" (1883), as well as such canvases as "In the Garden" (1885) and "Umbrellas" (1881/1886), where the impressionist past is still visible, but Renoir's new approach to painting appears.

Girl with a straw hat. 1884

The so-called "Ingres period" opens. Most famous work of this period - "Big Bathers" (1884/1887). For the construction of the composition, the author first used sketches and sketches. The lines of the drawing became clear and defined. The colors lost their former brightness and saturation, the painting as a whole began to look more restrained and colder.

Big bathers. 1884-1887.

Three naked women are depicted in the foreground - two are on the shore, and the third is standing in the water, apparently intending to spray them. The figures of women are written out very clearly and realistically, which was characteristic style for this period of Renoir's work, which was called the "dry" or "Ingres" (after the artist Dominique Ingres) period.

For the painting, Renoir was posed (from left to right) by Alina Charigot, Renoir's future wife (in 1885 their first son, Pierre, was born, and officially the marriage was concluded in 1890), and Suzanne Valadon (real name Marie-Clementine Valadon), who later became famous artist.

Renoir worked on this painting for about three years, and in the process he drew a large number of sketches and sketches, including at least two full-scale multi-figure versions. After The Great Bathers, there was not a single picture to which he would devote so much time and effort.

On the very shore of the sea. 1883

Dance in the city. 1883

Young ladies playing badminton. 1885

Portrait of Suzanne Valadon. 1885

Young girl reading. 1886

Hairstyle. 1888

Young girl with daisies. 1889

Madame de Vernon. 1889

Girl in a pink and black hat. 1890

"Pearl period" 1891-1902

In 1892, Durand-Ruel opened a large exhibition of paintings by Renoir, which was a great success. Recognition also came from government officials - the painting "Girls at the Piano" (1892) was purchased for the Luxembourg Museum.

Girls at the piano. 1892
The painting depicts two young girls: one is sitting at the piano, and the other is standing next to her. Both girls look attentively and enthusiastically at the notes, apparently choosing some kind of melody. Such a calm, idyllic picture was a symbol of the French bourgeois culture of that time.

Woman in a hat. 1891

The girls are reading. 1891

Christina Lerolle embroiders. 1895

Playing guitar. 1897

Renoir traveled to Spain, where he got acquainted with the work of Velasquez and Goya.
In the early 90s, new changes took place in Renoir art. In a picturesque manner, an iridescence of color appeared, which is why this period is sometimes called "mother-of-pearl".
At this time, Renoir painted such paintings as "Apples and Flowers" (1895/1896), "Spring" (1897), "Son Jean" (1900), "Portrait of Mrs. Gaston Bernheim" (1901). He traveled to the Netherlands, where he was interested in the paintings of Vermeer and Rembrandt.

Madame Paul Gallimard, born Lucie Duce. 1892

Girls viewing the album. 1892

Girl brushing her hair. 1894

Woman with red blush. 1896

Three bathers with a crab. 1897

Portrait of Christina Lerolle.1897

A young Spanish woman playing the guitar. 1898

Yvonne and Christine at the piano. 1898

"Red period" 1903-1919

The "pearl" period gave way to the "red", so named because of the preference for shades of reddish and pink flowers.
Renoir still wrote sunny landscapes, still lifes with bright colors, portraits of his children, naked women, created "Walk" (1906), "Portrait of Ambroise Vollard" (1908), "Gabriel in a red blouse" (1910), "Bouquet of Roses" (1909/1913), "Woman with a Mandolin" (1919).

Portrait of Marthe Denis. 1904

thoughtfulness. 1906

Portrait of Ambroise Vollard. 1908

Ambroise Vollard - one of the most significant art dealers (marchants) in Paris in the XIX - early. XX centuries He supported both financially and morally a large number of famous and unknown artists including Cezanne, Maillol, Picasso, Rouault, Gauguin and van Gogh. He was also known as a collector and publisher.

Gabriel for a darn. 1908

Lady with a fan. 1908

Mr and Mrs Bernheim de Villers. 1910

Wash. 1912

The woman at the stove. 1912

Interesting Facts

A close friend of Auguste Renoir was Henri Matisse, who was almost 28 years his junior. When O. Renoir was essentially bedridden due to illness, A. Matisse visited him every day. Renoir, almost paralyzed by arthritis, overcoming pain, continued to paint in his studio. Once, watching the pain with which each stroke of the brush is given to him, Matisse could not stand it and asked: “Auguste, why don’t you leave painting, are you suffering so much?” Renoir limited himself to only the answer: "Pain passes, but beauty remains." And this was the whole Renoir, who worked until his last breath.

French artist Laurent Botella was born in Nantes in 1974. His painting studies began in 1989, at the Maithe Rovino workshop in Osson, followed by one year in art school Beaux Arts, in Toulouse. The training was focused on oil painting and pastels. However, charcoal and pencil paintings have always been the basis of his work before and after his studies.

landscapes. Alain Lutz

Alain Lutz is a contemporary French landscape painter born in May 1953 in Mulhouse, France. Noticing his undoubted artistic talent, his parents at the age of thirteen gave him the first oil paints. He studied for a while at the Boule School of Design in Paris, but eventually he studied to be an industrial designer and after graduating he got a job as a senior technician.

Self-portrait. Laurent Dauptain

Laurent Dauptain, a talented French artist, studied at an art school in Paris, graduated in 1981, then continued his studies at school decorative arts there, in Paris, he graduated in 1983 with a bachelor's degree, and in 1984 he received a master's degree in painting. After several years of working with self-portraits, he decided to try his hand at other genres, but still, from time to time he returned to portraits.

Naive style. Michel Delacroix

Michel Delacroix was born in 1933 on the left bank of the Seine, in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. He started painting in early age As far as he remembers, he was not yet seven, the love of drawing was born during the German occupation of Paris. Paris remained Paris, even during the occupation, it appears in the paintings of Delacroix to this day. In almost all of his paintings there are pedestrians, rare cars and street lamps, the city in them, as in those days, looks quiet and calm, as if isolated from the hustle and bustle.

way to find yourself. Pascale Taurua

Pascale Taurua was born in 1960 in Noumea, New Caledonia. Graduated art academy in Papeete, Tahiti. She painted her first painting in 1996 and has since begun painting full-time, showcasing her own figurative style. She showed her works in almost all countries of the Pacific region, where her paintings are extremely in demand and are in many private art collections.

monster ministers. Antony Squizzato

Modern French artist and illustrator Anthony Squizzato invites us to relax and go on a journey to an official meeting with the characters of the world he created, where the viewer will be able to personally get acquainted with the heroes of his works - the colorful characters of one of the largest (in terms of size and number of participants ) in cabinet history.