Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Featured Works

“Why shouldn’t art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world.”

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French painter with a brilliant eye for beauty, capturing scenes of Parisian modernity and leisure at the end of the 19th century. While he was seen as a fundamental part of the Impressionist movement, Renoir saw the potential limitations of a style based primarily on optical sensation and effects of light. Therefore, in the middle of his career, he began exploring the traditions of the old masters—like famous colorists Titian and Rubens—subsequently creating some of the most timeless works of his career. Despite his deteriorating health, Renoir continued to paint until his death in 1919. Today, Renoir is celebrated as one of the greatest modern French painters, and his works act as a bridge between the Old Masters and the 20th century.

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