
Pierre-Auguste RenoirFrance, 1841–1919Peut-on la contempler ?
Cambridge, États-Unis
Salle2100, floor 2, European and American Art, 17th–19th century
Présentée au public. Qui s’en porte garant est indiqué ci-dessous.
For many French artists during the 1860s, the floral still life persisted as a test of pure painterly ability. This exuberant bouquet in a Japanese vase from early in Renoir’s career attests to the artist’s engagement with past art historical traditions. He addresses the ennobled Dutch practice of still life through the large scale of his canvas, while his attention to the textures and colors of the arrangement evokes the work of early eighteenth-century French painters like Antoine Watteau and François Boucher— artists he had studied as a teenager while working as a porcelain painter. The painting also demonstrates Renoir’s development as an artist. Instead of applying the paint with a palette knife— a technique he borrowed from artists such as Courbet— Renoir adopted a freer and thinner stroke using solely a brush.
Musées d'Art de Harvard
1862–1864 · Formation
Beaux-Arts de Paris
1862–1864
Teacher: Charles Gleyre
1864
Debut at the Paris Salon
Renoir exhibited at the Paris Salon for the first time, but recognition came slowly. From 1863 to 1890 he submitted paintings to the Salon: they were accepted ten times and rejected four.
1865
Meeting Lise Tréhot
At the home of the painter Jules Le Cœur, Renoir met 16-year-old Lise Tréhot, who soon became his lover and favorite model. Their liaison lasted until 1872.
1868
First success: "Lise with a Parasol"
Renoir's first success at the Salon came with the painting "Lise with a Parasol" (1867), for which Lise Tréhot posed.