Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born on this day in 1841. Happy Birthday :)
One of the models of this painting is Andrée Hessling, who became the first wife of Renoir's son, Jean. The natural setting displayed in the painting was the large garden of the house owned by the painter in Cagnes-sur-Mer. The painting shows "a timeless nature", the women portrayed by the painter are free and uninhibited. The Bathers owes a great deal to the nudes painted by Titian and Rubens, so greatly admired by Renoir. They express a pleasure in painting which was not dampened by the illness and suffering that the painter endured in his last years.
The painting received criticism because of "the enormousness of the legs and arms, the weakness of flesh, and the pinkish color of the models". It's hard to not agree with this opinion. But you must know that this painting is emblematic of the experimentation carried out by Renoir at the end of his life. After 1910, he returned to one of his favourite subjects – nudes on the open air – and produced several large paintings.
The Bathers may also be regarded as Renoir's pictorial testament, for he died in December 1919.
If you don't get enough of Renoir, on DailyArtDaily.com you can watch an unique footage of him painting in his studio.
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