Renoir: 152 Masterpieces

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) was a French leading painter in the development of the Impressionist movement. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau."

He obviously loved the young of all ages; he seems to have been on of very few painters who could express the delicate appearing of young people and various aspects of their characters. He also clearly loved all women, from little girls to youngsters, working girls and fleshy peasant women, to fashionable upper middle class ladies.

This 19th century artist was able to capture the French sensibility of a bourgeois industrial revolution through his numerous images, including his works on paper. He also frequently used pastel to depict those dear to him, it was because pastel, which combines color with line, gave him the possibility of working rapidly to capture in all their vividness and the brief show of emotion.