19th Century European Art - Renoir's Washerwomen
19th Century European Art
Renoir’s Washerwomen (c 1888): A Review
Located between two major styles of his art, Renoir’s Washerwomen (c 1888), displays the use of bright colors and a technique un-characteristic of his previous style. Living from 1841 to 1919, Pierre-Auguste Renoir would become known as one of the most prominent members of the French Impressionist painters. His paintings celebrated the beauty that could be found both within women and nature. He dedicated about fifteen years of his life and seventeen pieces of work to the Impressionist movement by the time he decided to make a change. Renoir is known to have experimented with “dappling light effects and broken brush strokes”[1]. Impressionism was an art form that was an attempt to record a visual reality through momentary effects of light and color. In the early 1880s, Renoir had begun to become dissatisfied with Impressionism because all of his works started to look too similar, so he decided to shift his focut for a few months and decided to visit Italy. He became fascinated by Renaissance art and became influence by works of the Old Masters, such as Raphael and Ingres. By the late 1880s, Renoir started to fall away from the form and distinct shape of the Old Masters and began adding lines and dabs of paint back into his work. After a few years and some successful works, he again shifted his style and maneuvered away from his classical phase and started painting less rigidly and with more dabs of paint resembling minor elements of Impressionism. Maryanne Stevens remarks that this work is Renoir’s early steps towards the softer style he would eventually master[2]. As with many artists, however, their careers deteriorate towards the end of their lives, which is true for this artist.
The Painting During Renoir’s Career Renoir become dissatisfied with the limitations Impressionism put on his style, so he traveled to Italy. He became greatly influenced by Italian art and decided to
Renoir’s Washerwomen (c 1888): A Review
Located between two major styles of his art, Renoir’s Washerwomen (c 1888), displays the use of bright colors and a technique un-characteristic of his previous style. Living from 1841 to 1919, Pierre-Auguste Renoir would become known as one of the most prominent members of the French Impressionist painters. His paintings celebrated the beauty that could be found both within women and nature. He dedicated about fifteen years of his life and seventeen pieces of work to the Impressionist movement by the time he decided to make a change. Renoir is known to have experimented with “dappling light effects and broken brush strokes”[1]. Impressionism was an art form that was an attempt to record a visual reality through momentary effects of light and color. In the early 1880s, Renoir had begun to become dissatisfied with Impressionism because all of his works started to look too similar, so he decided to shift his focut for a few months and decided to visit Italy. He became fascinated by Renaissance art and became influence by works of the Old Masters, such as Raphael and Ingres. By the late 1880s, Renoir started to fall away from the form and distinct shape of the Old Masters and began adding lines and dabs of paint back into his work. After a few years and some successful works, he again shifted his style and maneuvered away from his classical phase and started painting less rigidly and with more dabs of paint resembling minor elements of Impressionism. Maryanne Stevens remarks that this work is Renoir’s early steps towards the softer style he would eventually master[2]. As with many artists, however, their careers deteriorate towards the end of their lives, which is true for this artist.
The Painting During Renoir’s Career Renoir become dissatisfied with the limitations Impressionism put on his style, so he traveled to Italy. He became greatly influenced by Italian art and decided to