Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) is universally acclaimed and celebrated: museums pride themselves on his paintings, crowds flock to his retrospectives. His work shows art at its most light-hearted, sensual and luminous. Renoir never wanted anything ugly in his paintings, nor any dramatic action. €œI like pictures which make me want to wander through them when it€s a landscape,€ he said, €œor pass my hand over breast or back if it€s a woman.€ Renoir€s entire oeuvre is dominated by the depiction of women€"again and again he painted €œthese faunesses with their pouting lips€ (Mallarm©) and invented a new image of feminine beauty and sensuality. A prolific painter€"he made several thousand works in his lifetime€"he is perhaps the most beloved of the Impressionists.

 

About the Series:
Each book in TASCHEN€s Basic Art series features:

• a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance
• a concise biography
• approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions