2. Biography
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919)
was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development
of the Impressionist style.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, France, the child of a
working class family. As a boy, he worked in a factory where his
drawing talents led to him being chosen to paint designs on fine
china.
During those early years, he often visited the Louvre to study the
French master painters.
In 1862, he began studying art under Charles Gleyre in Paris.
There he met Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille, and Claude Monet –
all they painted in the Impressionist style.
Renoir is known especially for his paintings of women.
3. Impressionism – a style of painting (used
especially in France between 1870 and 1900)
by use of colour rather than by details of form.
Claude Monet Kamil Pissaro
Argenteuil. Yachts Mill in Knocke, Belgium
4. Pierre Renoir
• Pierre Renoir was a famous French artist. His painting are very
popular today because they show colorful, happy scenes, often in
bright sunlight. He liked to show the good things in life because he
thought there were enough bad things already.
• He was born in central France in 1841. His father was a tailor and
his mother was a dressmaker. The family was poor. They move in
Paris when Pierre was three. As he grew older he showed a talent
for drawing. He started work at the age of thirteen, learning how to
decorate plates, cups, dishes and bowls. Later he studied at Paris
Art School and became an artist.
• Renoir liked painting outdoor scenes of everyday life. On his
painting “Children on the Beach of Guenesey” we can see children
and young woman at the seaside. A hundred years ago, French
children did not swim in the sea. They didn’t have special clothes for
the beach and they usually wore hats and gloves, even in the
summer.
6. Renoir loved family life, his children and his wife.
He often painted pictures of families. Some of
his paintings are of his own children. One of his
sons, Jean was also very artistic. He became a
world-famous director.
Pierre Renoir continued working to the end of his
life, even when he became ill. He was seventy-
eight when he died in 1919.
You can see his paintings in museums and art
galleries all over the world. Art collectors pay
a lot of money for a painting by Renoir. In 2002
his painting “ Woman sitting in her garden”
was sold for 23,5 million pounds.
8. Read the sentences and decide if they are
true (T), false (F) or not stated (NS):
1. When Renoir was three, his family moved to
London.
2. He used dark or pale colors in his paintings.
3. Renoir started to work in ceramic factory when he
was thirteen.
4. In Paris he studied Art.
5. He had a big family.
6. His paintings are very famous all over the world.
9. Keys:
1. F
2. F
3. NS
4. T
5. NS
6. T
On the Terrace (1881)
10. Questions to the text:
• When and where was Renoir born?
• What was his father and his mother?
• When did he start work?
• Where did he study Art?
• Why are his paintings very popular today?
• What colors did he use?
• Why didn’t children swim in the sea in his painting?
• Why did he often paint his children and his wife?
• How old was he when he died in 1919?
• Why did he like to show the good things in his
paintings?
11. Read the definition and find out the
word in the text:
• A person, usually a woman, who make clothes
according to customers.
• The making or expression of what is beautiful, e.g.
music, literature, especially painting.
• A person who makes clothes, especially for men, such
as coats and suits.
• A room, hall or building, where works of art are shown
and sometimes offered for sale.
• A person who produces works of art, especially
paintings or drawings.
