Whilst not a big fan of Renoir, I did find this exhibition, currently on at the National Gallery, informative as well as interesting, learning more about his background and his reasons for painting what he did.
For one thing he was one of very few working class painters who became successful in his own lifetime. That in itself is quite an achievement, then as now. He painted pictures that were easy to live with; in his view there was enough misery in people’s lives and he wanted to give them happy paintings (unlike the early stark, slightly anguished self-portrait above).
He continued the romance of the fête champêtre as painted by Rococo artists Boucher and Fragonard. His twist was to show the contemporary working classes at leisure in idyllic rural settings.
Both male and female rowers are shown below, often relaxing after their exercise.
I like the way he painted the sparkle of glass and metal of tableware. The brushwork is very loose, almost abstract when you get up close.
He particularly enjoyed depicting the relatively new phenomenon of young working women in the streets and with friends.
Everyone is young, attractive and happy in this world.
