Renoir and Friends

Today I read parts of a book on Renoir to my art therapy client.

I learned that Renoir's circle of friends included the famous Impressionistic painters Monet, Baxille and Sisley. All of them attended the Gleyre Academy and spent time painting together. Imagine that master-mind group!

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Portrait of Claude Monet
1875
Oil
Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France

Later in his life, Renoir developed a friendship with Cezanne and the two of them painted similar subjects together.

Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Oil
1889
Paul Cezanne
Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Oil
1889
Pierre-Auguste Renoir had already attained some measure of success as a portrait painter before exhibiting in the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris, 1974. He was only 33 years old at the time. Although Renoir's paintings have been classified as Impressionistic, he was always searching for new means of expression and his style during the period of the 1870's varies so much that Renoir's Impressionism, unlike Monet's, has no clear indisputable identity. Renoir quit showing with the Impressionists for several years until the seventh Impressionist show of 1882.

I cherish my artist friends and enjoy passionate discussion of art. I can only imagine how the friendships among these masters might have evolved.

Edgar Degas

I learned a few new interesting facts about Edgar Degas while reading Trewin Copplestone's book, Edgar Degas, to my art therapy client.

Edgar Degas who lived from 1834-1917, became a professional painter through a change in his family's fortunes. He grew up the privileged son of wealthy and cultured parents and despite his interest in art was destined for a career in law until the failure of the family back. Not the typical starving artist!

Rene-Hilaire De Gas
1857
Oil
Edgar Degas was 23 years old when he painted this portrait of his grandfather.

Degas, being the oldest grandson, spent a great deal of time with his grandfather who was the source of his financial security.

More than any of his famous contemporaries, while possibly excluding Manet, Degas was a traditionalist painter. He was dismissive of the Impressionist technique as a method, although he participated in most of the group's early exhibitions. As a result, he is more closely allied in popular understanding with Impressionism than he himself ever wished to be.

Best know for his paintings of ballet dancers, Degas was an urbane and savagely witty man, choosing his subjects from the cultured society life of Paris in which he was a well known figure.

The Green Dancers
1877-9
Pastel and Gouache

Van Gogh on YouTube

Have you visited the Musée d'Orsay, in Paris, France?

The museum is dedicated to artwork in the period 1848 to 1914 and is, in part, a temple to Impressionism. Essentially it starts where the Louvre leaves off. The artwork housed in the museum came from three different collections.

There is one room in the museum containing 18 Van Gogh paintings. Katherine Tyrell says, "It's certainly an experience to be in a room with quite so many Van Goghs. You'll note from the video that it's very crowded. However, that's what all the rooms are like on the top floor where the late nineteenth century and Impressionist paintings are displayed. However people always like to linger in the Van Gogh room......."



Like Rembrandt and Goya, Vincent van Gogh often used himself as a model; he produced over forty-three self-portraits, paintings or drawings in ten years.

Most-Visited Art Museums

The top five most-visited museums in 2008 were:

1. Louvre, Paris
2. British Museum, London
3. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
4. Tate Modern, London
5. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York


The most-visited museum:

The Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre — in English, the Louvre Museum or Great Louvre, or simply the Louvre — is the national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument.

It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement (neighbourhood). Nearly 35,000 objects from the 6th century BC to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet).

Historical facts:

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being confiscated church and royal property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801.

The size of the collection increased under Napoleon when the museum was renamed the Musée Napoléon. After his defeat at Waterloo, many works seized by Napoleon's armies were returned to their original owners.

The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and gifts since the Third Republic, except during the two World Wars.

As of 2008, the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; and Prints and Drawings.