Today is the birthday, in 1841, of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. It has been said that, as a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, “Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau.”
He was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France, in 1841. His father, Léonard Renoir, was a tailor of modest means, so, in 1844, Renoir’s family moved to Paris in search of more favorable prospects. The location of their home, in rue d’Argenteuil in central Paris, placed Renoir in proximity to the Louvre. At the age of thirteen he was apprenticed at a porcelain factory.[3][4]
Although Renoir displayed a talent for his work, he frequently tired of the subject matter and sought refuge in the galleries of the Louvre. The owner of the factory recognized his apprentice’s talent and communicated this to Renoir’s family. Following this, Renoir started taking lessons to prepare for entry into Ecole des Beaux Arts.
Renoir was inspired by the style and subject matter of the previous modern painters Camille Pissarro and Édouard Manet. After a series of rejections by the Salon juries, he joined forces with Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, and several other artists to mount the First Impressionist Exhibition in April 1874, in which Renoir displayed six paintings. By the end of the 1870s, particularly after the success of his painting Mme Charpentier and her Children (1878) at the Salon of 1879, Renoir was a successful and fashionable painter.
Around 1892, Renoir developed rheumatoid arthritis. In 1907, he moved to the warmer climate of “Les Collettes”, a farm at the village of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, close to the Mediterranean coast. Renoir painted during the last twenty years of his life even after his arthritis severely limited his mobility. Renoir died in Cagnes-sur-Mer on 3 December 1919 at the age of 78.
When I was a small child, I was fortunate that my mother was able to take me regularly to visit some of the great institutions of Washington, DC, including the National Art Gallery where I fell in love with the impressionists including Renoir. Here are a few of his works that I saw and loved there:
Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1880–1881, The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C. Note that the woman on the far left was Renoir’s wife, Aline Victorine Charigot
The Dancer, 1874, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
A Girl with a Watering Can, 1876, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Pont-Neuf, 1872, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Babysitting…
BADA BING!!
Them: We’re disgusted by the amount of hate Pam Bondi is getting at the moment. Us: It’s nowhere near enough, we can do better.
My body came with a lot of terms and conditions I did not agree to.
It would be nice if all the people wearing “Don’t Tread On Me” shirts stopped treading on everyone else, wouldn’t it?
My children watched the halftime show. Now they’re gay AND Puerto Rican! Darn you Bad Bunny!
12% of Americans believe Noah of Noah’s Ark is married to Joan of Arc. (They must be the core of the MAGAt movement.)
Funny how the US voting system worked well for 44 presidents and suddenly went bad when tRUMP lost an election.
Doctors discover a new link between rising measles cases among children and their parents being gullible morons.
Let’s have illegal immigrants hunt down sex offenders for a chance at citizenship. We’ll call it aliens vs predators.
Last week my wife put together an earthquake plan. She and the kids are supposed to stand together in a doorway. I’m supposed to go in the front hall and stand under the chandelier.
I can’t believe people are comparing tRUMP to Satan. Yes, he’s evil, but he’s certainly not as evil as tRUMP.
I’m staying home today. I have mood poisoning.
“Well, well,” said Dr. Bigbill, as he met a former patient on the street, “I’m glad to see you again, Mr. Brown. How are you this morning?” “First, Doctor,” said Mr. Brown cautiously, “does it cost anything to tell you?”
A farm girl brought a bull to a pasture in order that it might service the cow there. The farm boy in charge of the cow joined her and they watched the process. After a while, the farm boy turned to the farm girl and said, “That just makes me itch to do the same thing. How about it?” And the farm girl said, “Go ahead. It’s your cow.”
Two communists are sitting together at a nudist colony. One turns to the other and says, “Have you read Marx?” The other replies, “Yes, it’s these damn wicker chairs!”
Today is the birthday, in 1943, of George Harrison guitarist and vocalist with The Beatles The all-time bestselling album in the UK is The Beatles’ ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, with over 4.5 million copies sold. Harrison wrote the 1969 US No.1 & UK No.4 Beatles single ’Something’. As a solo artist he had the 1971 US No.1 album ‘All Things Must Pass’ and the 1970 worldwide No.1 single ‘My Sweet Lord’. He was also a member of the Traveling Wilburys with Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. He organized the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, a precursor to later benefit concerts such as Live Aid. In his role as a music and film producer, Harrison produced acts signed to the Beatles’ Apple record label before founding Dark Horse Records in 1974. He co-founded HandMade Films in 1978, initially to produce the Monty Python troupe’s comedy film The Life of Brian (1979). Harrison died of cancer on November 29th 2001 age 58. ‘Something is generally considered a love song to Pattie Boyd, his first wife. As recorded by the Beatles, the track features a guitar solo that several music critics identify among Harrison’s finest playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UelDrZ1aFeY
