Portrait of an Artist Key Dates in the Life of Pierre Auguste Renoir Essay Example For Students

Portrait of an Artist: Key Dates in the Life of Pierre Auguste Renoir Essay 1841 Pierre Auguste  Renoir  is born on Feb. 25 in Limoges, France. 1861 Studies at the studio of Swiss history painter Charles Gleyre, where he meets future Impressionists Frederic Bazille, Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley. Begins painting portraits. 1862 The nascent Impressionists begin painting together in the forests of Fontainebleau, south of Paris.  Renoir  captures their camaraderie in The Inn of Mere Antony (1866). 1863 The core of the Impressionist movement is formed with Edouard Manet as their leader. The group also includes Camille Pissarro, Paul Cezanne and Henri Fantin-Latour. 1865-1873  Renoir  increasingly relies on portrait commissions to make a living. 1869  Renoir  and Monet produce what many consider to be the first Impressionist landscapes. 1874 The first Impressionist exhibition is held in Paris. The group would hold eight such exhibitions through 1886. 1876 The second Impressionist exhibit includes  Renoirs Ball at the Moulin de la Galette. After 1877, he elects not to exhibit with the Impressionists, preferring the exposure and prestige of the Salon. 1879 For the first time in 8 years, a  Renoir  painting, Madame Charpentier and her Children is accepted by the Salon. 1879-1882  Renoir  embarks upon a series of paintings featuring scenes from la vie moderne that become his most popular and recognizable works, including Acrobats at the Cirque Fernando, Luncheon of the Boating Party, featuring his mistress and later wife Aline Charigot holding a small dog and Two Sisters (On the Terrace). 1882-1890  Renoir  abandons the warm style that characterizes his 1870s work and returns to a more solid, neoclassical style during what is considered to be his dry or sour period. 1885 His first son, Pierre, is born. Five years later, he marries long-time mistress Charigot with whom he has two more sons, Jean (1890) and Claude (1901). Having earned enough from his portraits to live a comfortable bourgeoisie life, he moves with his family to the south of France. His later works primarily feature members of his family. 1890  Renoir  submits his last painting to the Salon. In his later years, he is plagued by rheumatoid arthritis and confined to a wheel chair. Despite hands so crippled he can barely hold a brush,  Renoir  continues to paint. 1919  Renoir  dies on Dec. 3 in Cagnes, France.