奥古斯特·雷诺阿(Pierre-Auguste Renoir，1841—1919)
1841年，同 马奈 、 德加 的高贵出身不同，雷诺阿生于利摩日一个穷裁缝的家里。
1846年左右，父亲领着全家到巴黎谋生，13岁的雷诺阿便被送到瓷器工厂去学习手艺。他最初学画瓷器，后来又画屏风，这项工作使他产生了对绘画的兴趣。
1862—1864年间，雷诺阿入美术学校学习绘画，同时又在 格莱尔 的画室里补习素描。在这里，他得以结识了 莫奈 、 巴齐依 、 西斯莱 等 印象主义 画家，同他们一起走上印象主义的道路。由于经济困难，雷诺阿没有受到系统的教育，他的画如同他的为人一样，是“平民式”的、通俗的。青年时期的雷诺阿，把绘画看作是一门手艺，认认真真，孜孜不倦。
雷诺阿有着自己的绘画技巧，这种技巧自然是从他独特的观察方法产生出来的。在雷诺阿的眼中，当物体在光的照耀下展现出来时，它如同置身水中一样，被空气的反光包围着，我们的眼睛所能够看到的，便是物体周围空气粒子的闪烁和颤动。因此，他使用细小的笔触使各种色彩错杂在物体与环境交界的地方，而不是像过去的画家们那样，简单地用线条分隔他们。
1874年，他参加第一届印象主义画展的油画《包厢》，便是这样画成的。它那明暗交错的光影，被人们称为“绘画史上的奇迹”。
1876年，他又在《红磨坊街的露天舞会》一画中，用这种方法表现规模宏大的场面，透过树丛的星星点点的阳光，洒落在人们的身上、脸上、桌上和草地上，真正实践了“光是绘画的主人”这一句印象主义者的口号。
1876年以后，他的风格臻于成熟。作为这种风格的代表的《游艇上的午餐》、《爱尔·潘蒂埃夫人和孩子们的肖像》，都以明朗、艳丽、令人眩目的光彩，受到评论界和官方沙龙的赞美。
1881年秋，雷诺阿到意大利游历，他在佛罗伦萨、威尼斯、罗马、那不勒斯等地参观了精美的古典大师们的绘画，产生了祟敬和仰慕的心理。在给丢朗一吕厄的信中，他说：“我在罗马看了 拉斐尔 的画，真是妙极了，我早该看到他们。这些画显示了真正的艺术技巧和智慧， 不像我，他不追求不可能的东西，但这是美的。”这表明他开始对自己的方法不满。回到法国后，他痛苦地努力想改变自己的画法，闭门不出，画了如《休浴的女子》、《市场上》等被称为“新古典式”的作品。显然，这又不太符合雷诺阿的性格，不久，他又回到了自己的方法上来。晚年， 雷诺阿常常为病魔所苦，但仍以坚强的毅力坚持作画。
1912年底，丢朗一吕厄曾记述道：“他不能走动，甚至不能从椅子上站起来，尽管如此，只要在作画，他仍然精神焕发，脸上充满真正幸福的表情。”这时期，他画过许多人体，由于风湿病的折磨，他手指僵直，双目也看不清颜色，因此这些画中的人物常常臃肿肥胖，象烤肉一般一片通红，很难说雷诺阿自己愿意画成这种样子。他的经纪人丢朗一吕厄先生对此却竭力奉承，这也许是出于商业上的原因。无论如何，它们同雷诺阿成熟时期的典型风格显然是格格不大的。
少年时的雷诺阿便被送到瓷器厂去学习手艺。但画瓷器和画屏风这项工作使他产生了对绘画的兴趣。而后出于对绘画的兴趣，雷诺阿便到美术学校学习绘画，同时又在格莱尔的画室里补习素描。在那里，他结识了克劳德·莫奈（Claude Monet,1840-1926）、巴齐依和阿尔弗莱德·西斯莱（Alfred Sisley,1839-1899），从此便走上印象主义的道路。对于雷诺阿的所有作品来说，都是具有象征意义的。在他漫长的一生中，雷诺阿曾追随过或多或少符合他的艺术气质的各种不同的风格流派，有时甚至脱离了良好的趣味，但他总是能够重新游出水面。依靠他那取之不竭的创作机智，他不仅善于避开错误，而且还能够从这些流派当中吸取某种同样的艺术的东西，这一点是极其重要的事实。雷诺阿出身平民，他的性格气质都是接近平民的。他从无高傲的表现，在贝尔拉的酒家里，侍役们像对待同等地位的人那样跟他说话。他对模特儿的选择从不过于挑剔：“我只要有不反光的皮肤就行”，还有就是不要“像上流社会的女士那样涂脂抹粉的”。雷诺阿有着健康的、基本的趣味他在社交场合总是保持着一种沉默寡言、多愁善感的样子，一副阴郁的面孔。可是当雷诺阿画起画来，他的脸便立刻容光焕发，作画时他竟会哼出悦耳歌声。情欲是雷诺阿的基本艺术冲动。他不觉得会限制他的艺术，相反的，他还为此而大肆夸耀：“乳房是一种浑圆的、温暖的东西。如果上帝不创造女人的乳房，我也许就不会成为画家了。”他自己都没有意识到，他的每一次情欲冲动是多么充满着魅力，他从自然所得来的每一个印象是怎样受到自由驰骋幻想的改造的。他眼看着裸体的模特儿，画着鲜花；眼看着一束玫瑰花，仔细捉摸着皮肤的色调。甚至在他的晚年，加纳的炽热阳光和令人心醉的红颜色还勾起他的情欲，把情欲升华到了艺术的水平。雷诺阿对待肉体就像是对待一块好吃的羊羔肉那样，有一种漫无节制的贪欲。从41岁起，雷诺阿经常生病。在他生命的最后15年中，他受关节炎病痛的折磨，几乎离不开轮椅。他得把画笔捆扎在变硬了的手上才能画画。令人惊异的是，他作品中没有留下一丝个人痛苦的痕迹。他的艺术总是肯定着生活的美。他本能地选择他所熟悉的那些快乐事物：街道生活、乡村景色的恬美、鲜花或水果、钢琴前的消遣性演奏家、花儿一般娇嫩的小孩、健康而充满着青春活力的女人体。他对周围的生活有非凡的鉴别力。阴影和悲痛全部被他排除在外的。雷诺阿就是这样一个不轻浮的艺术家，他的艺术始终让人们看到生活的快乐和甜美的一面。
提起雷诺阿，令人不禁浮现女性盈盈含笑的妩媚画面，或是孩童纯挚的容颜、轻松欢乐的聚会，还有阳光下款款起舞的人群......
他的作品呈现一种优雅自然的美，除了最直接的愉悦感受外，不会让人有任何思考性的负担。在他的画中找不到对人生负面的反应与答案。
─ 恩格斯
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25, 1841–December 3, 1919) (b. Feb. 25, 1841, Limoges, France--d. Dec. 3, 1919, Cagnes)
French painter originally associated with the Impressionist movement. His early works were typically Impressionist snapshots of real life, full of sparkling colour and light. By the mid-1880s, however, he had broken with the movement to apply a more disciplined, formal technique to portraits and figure paintings, particularly of women (e.g. , Bathers, 1884-87).
In 1854 he began work as a painter in a porcelain factory in Paris, gaining experience with the light, fresh colors that were to distinguish his Impressionist work and also learning the importance of good craftsmanship. His predilection towards light-hearted themes was also influenced by the great Rococco masters, whose works he studied in the Louvre. In 1862 he entered the studio of Gleyre and there formed a lasting friendship with Monet, Sisley, and Bazille. He painted with them in the Barbizon district and became a leading member of the group of Impressionists who met at the Café Guerbois. His relationship with Monet was particularly close at this time, and their paintings of the beauty spot called La Grenouillère done in 1869 (an example by Renoir is in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm) are regarded as the classic early statements of the Impressionist style. Like Monet, Renoir endured much hardship early in his career, but he began to achieve success as a portraitist in the late 1870s and was freed from financial worries after the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel began buying his work regularly in 1881. By this time Renoir had 'travelled as far as Impressionism could take me', and a visit to Italy in 1881-82 inspired him to seek a greater sense of solidarity in his work. The change in attitude is seen in The Umbrellas (NG, London), which was evidently begun before the visit to Italy and finished afterwards; the two little girls on the right are painted with the feathery brush-strokes characteristic of his Impressionist manner, but the figures on the left are done in a crisper and drier style, with duller coloring. After a period of experimentation with what he called his `manière aigre' (harsh or sour manner) in the mid 1880s, he developed a softer and more supple kind of handling. At the same time he turned from contemporary themes to more timeless subjects, particularly nudes, but also pictures of young girls in unspecific settings. As his style became grander and simpler he also took up mythological subjects (The Judgement of Paris; Hiroshima Museum of Art; 1913-14), and the female type he preferred became more mature and ample. In the 1890s Renoir began to suffer from rheumatism, and from 1903 (by which time he was world-famous) he lived in the warmth of the south of France. The rheumatism eventually crippled him (by 1912 he was confined to a wheelchair), but he continued to paint until the end of his life, and in his last years he also took up sculpture, directing assistants (usually Richard Guino, a pupil of Maillol) to act as his hands (Venus Victorious; Tate, London; 1914).
Renois is perhaps the best-loved of all the Impressionists, for his subjects---pretty children, flowers, beautiful scenes, above all lovely women---have instant appeal, and he communicated the joy he took in them with great directness. `Why shouldn't art be pretty?', he said, `There are enough unpleasant things in the world.' He was one of the great worshippers of the female form, and he said `I never think I have finished a nude until I think I could pinch it.' One of his sons was the celebrated film director Jean Renoir (1894-1979), who wrote a lively and touching biography (Renoir, My Father) in 1962
