Auguste Renoir was influenced neither by money nor by fame, he could not tolerate intellectuals and sticklers, but most of all he was afraid that his children would get into business. He appreciated scientific achievements, but was sure that science took the wrong turn: piece production was replaced by the batch one. Renoir didn’t care about political regime or ideology — he preferred to remain a simple Frenchman, adoring Dumas and Watteau.
Auguste Renoir almost became an opera singer. 13-year-old Auguste felt like the church boy’s choir was where he belonged: large organ pipes hid him from the eyes of the worshippers, while he could see and feel everyone. Loaders, traders, workers, seamstresses and butchers came to morning mass. "It was here, in cold winter mornings that I understood Rembrandt," recalled Renoir later.
He had a beautiful baritone, learned musical notation and performed complex passages. At that time, the regent of the choir and the church organist was Charles Gounod, still young and unknown (his opera Faust would appear only in 10 years), who back then was seriously considering taking holy orders. The regent was sure that Renoir stood a pretty good chance of becoming a famous opera singer. He gave the boy private lessons and persuaded his parents to choose a musical education for their son, gave opera tickets for the whole family and promised to immediately enrol Auguste in the opera chorus. He would be able to stack money very soon!
But lots of money was never a weighty argument for Auguste — neither then nor later. Standing on the stage in front of everybody with no organ pipes to hide, just think of that! No, opera was definitely not his thing.
He had a beautiful baritone, learned musical notation and performed complex passages. At that time, the regent of the choir and the church organist was Charles Gounod, still young and unknown (his opera Faust would appear only in 10 years), who back then was seriously considering taking holy orders. The regent was sure that Renoir stood a pretty good chance of becoming a famous opera singer. He gave the boy private lessons and persuaded his parents to choose a musical education for their son, gave opera tickets for the whole family and promised to immediately enrol Auguste in the opera chorus. He would be able to stack money very soon!
But lots of money was never a weighty argument for Auguste — neither then nor later. Standing on the stage in front of everybody with no organ pipes to hide, just think of that! No, opera was definitely not his thing.
Renoir had his own vision of wealth and poverty. He never travelled first class, wore the same suit for 10 years, walked the unpaved streets in a famine, so that his shoes didn’t wear out and, having become famous and rich, bought the estate of Les Collettes to save the 500-year-old olive trees there from cutting down.
The artist said "rich" when he meant "real." He considered crystal vulgar, while his list of the "rich" things included crooked green bottles that were blown by glass blowers and looked nothing like one another, dark bread and mossy roof tiles. Mowed lawns, chandeliers, slipcovers and books on the history of art in two chapters were "poor" for him.
Renoir didn’t tip waiters, but dispensed money to those deceived by notaries and other unfortunate who daily asked him for money for a sick child, a dying aunt or an innocently convicted husband. The artist’s relatives protected him from those arrogant canters, therefore most often the "unfortunate" ones were waiting for him on his way from home to the studio. But for these cases, Madame Renoir came up with a protection scheme: seeing the beggar, the model would run to the studio, take her clothes off and quickly take a beautiful pose. Only the fear that his model would catch a cold could make Renoir quickly see the visitor off and light the fireplace, which he never lit for himself alone.
The artist said "rich" when he meant "real." He considered crystal vulgar, while his list of the "rich" things included crooked green bottles that were blown by glass blowers and looked nothing like one another, dark bread and mossy roof tiles. Mowed lawns, chandeliers, slipcovers and books on the history of art in two chapters were "poor" for him.
Renoir didn’t tip waiters, but dispensed money to those deceived by notaries and other unfortunate who daily asked him for money for a sick child, a dying aunt or an innocently convicted husband. The artist’s relatives protected him from those arrogant canters, therefore most often the "unfortunate" ones were waiting for him on his way from home to the studio. But for these cases, Madame Renoir came up with a protection scheme: seeing the beggar, the model would run to the studio, take her clothes off and quickly take a beautiful pose. Only the fear that his model would catch a cold could make Renoir quickly see the visitor off and light the fireplace, which he never lit for himself alone.
1890
1872, 65×50 cm
1872, 61.3×50.5 cm
46×55 cm
Renoir adored Dumas père (French for 'father') and wholeheartedly hated Dumas fils ('son'). Alexandre Dumas was a real entertainer and inventor of French history. Renoir believed that entertainers (and he considered himself to be one of them) were rarely taken seriously and people often didn’t even realize how difficult it was to actually make the reader or viewer smile. As soon as his sons learned to read fluently, Renoir foisted on them The Three Musketeers and his favourite La Dame de Monsoreau, considering passionate love stories, betrayals, rascality and other moral shifts from the educational norms to be a manifestation of the writer’s mental health.
Renoir envied his friend Victor Chocquet, who knew the brilliant entertainer. Renoir listened to funny and touching stories about the artist with admiration and used to tell anybody who would listen: "What a wonderful old man Dumas père is! It turns out he was crying the day when he had to kill Porthos!"
Dumas fils was hopelessly boring and prudent as an old man. He disowned his inheritance not to pay off his father’s debts! In conversations about their favourite writer, Renoir and Chocquet passed a sentence on Dumas fils: "The only excuse for The Lady of the Camellias would be paying off the debts of The Lady Monsoreau".
Renoir envied his friend Victor Chocquet, who knew the brilliant entertainer. Renoir listened to funny and touching stories about the artist with admiration and used to tell anybody who would listen: "What a wonderful old man Dumas père is! It turns out he was crying the day when he had to kill Porthos!"
Dumas fils was hopelessly boring and prudent as an old man. He disowned his inheritance not to pay off his father’s debts! In conversations about their favourite writer, Renoir and Chocquet passed a sentence on Dumas fils: "The only excuse for The Lady of the Camellias would be paying off the debts of The Lady Monsoreau".
Renoir was a crazy father. He did everything wrong, not the way it should be or was established — he was a wizard, an inspirer and a storyteller. To calm down his little son Jean for half-an-hour posing, the artist used to read him Andersen’s fairy tales right in the studio. Once, one of Renoir’s acquaintances looked into the studio during one of these child’s sessions and asked: "Why are you reading this lie to the child? He will think that animals can speak!" Renoir smiled and replied: "But they really can!"
Renoir and his wife often went to the theatre. Shortly after their first son Pierre was born, the couple would often ask a neighbour to look after the baby, going to the next premiere. During the intermission, the two would rush home in a fiacre to check whether their sleeping son was fine, and return right to the second act. Later, they would do the same thing with little Jean, regardless of the reliability of the babysitter and their parental experience.
Jean was not handsome, he looked like a frog and, seeing him for the first time, his mother said jokingly: take this freak of nature away from me. But his hair was pure gold. They let their sons' hair grow, pursuing two goals: protecting their heads from possible injuries and giving Renoir some new inspirational golden highlights on his children’s hair. Jean parted with his hair when his younger brother and Renoir’s favourite model — little Claude was born.
Renoir and his wife often went to the theatre. Shortly after their first son Pierre was born, the couple would often ask a neighbour to look after the baby, going to the next premiere. During the intermission, the two would rush home in a fiacre to check whether their sleeping son was fine, and return right to the second act. Later, they would do the same thing with little Jean, regardless of the reliability of the babysitter and their parental experience.
Jean was not handsome, he looked like a frog and, seeing him for the first time, his mother said jokingly: take this freak of nature away from me. But his hair was pure gold. They let their sons' hair grow, pursuing two goals: protecting their heads from possible injuries and giving Renoir some new inspirational golden highlights on his children’s hair. Jean parted with his hair when his younger brother and Renoir’s favourite model — little Claude was born.
Renoir participated in artistic duels. There were no swords or pistols — explosive artists sorted things out with the help of paintings. Once, Edgar Degas liked the small landscape
, which Renoir had barely finished. Without hesitation, Renoir presented the painting to his colleague. And received a pastel drawing with horses as a return gift. But the gifts made both artists happy just for a cold minute: Renoir made a joke, and Degas did not like jokes about his worldview.
France then split into two parts: some people were for the Jew Dreyfus, others were against the Jew Dreyfus. The Jew Pissarro, together with Guillaumin, Gauguin, Cézanne and Zola (the latter wrote the famous article in defence of Dreyfus), were convinced that the convict was innocent and suffered only because of the intolerance of the French to the Jews. Degas, a confident anti-Semite and a French aristocrat, together with the unfortunate Dreyfus, scoffed at his former friends, the blatant socialists. And Renoir… Renoir was amused by the rage with which his former friends were severing all connections and stopped communicating with him.
In the midst of that hysteria over Dreyfus, Pissarro invited Renoir to participate in the next Impressionist exhibition. Degas got into a fuss: "You will refuse, won’t you?" "Do you want me to exhibit with Pissarro, Guillaumin and Gauguin, this gang of Jews and Socialists? You must be mad! I’m too afraid to compromise myself!" Renoir smiled.
Degas didn’t get the joke, returned home in a rage and immediately sent the unlucky landscape back to Renoir. Without hesitation, Renoir returned Edgar Degas his unfortunate pastel drawing, using the same carrier.
France then split into two parts: some people were for the Jew Dreyfus, others were against the Jew Dreyfus. The Jew Pissarro, together with Guillaumin, Gauguin, Cézanne and Zola (the latter wrote the famous article in defence of Dreyfus), were convinced that the convict was innocent and suffered only because of the intolerance of the French to the Jews. Degas, a confident anti-Semite and a French aristocrat, together with the unfortunate Dreyfus, scoffed at his former friends, the blatant socialists. And Renoir… Renoir was amused by the rage with which his former friends were severing all connections and stopped communicating with him.
In the midst of that hysteria over Dreyfus, Pissarro invited Renoir to participate in the next Impressionist exhibition. Degas got into a fuss: "You will refuse, won’t you?" "Do you want me to exhibit with Pissarro, Guillaumin and Gauguin, this gang of Jews and Socialists? You must be mad! I’m too afraid to compromise myself!" Renoir smiled.
Degas didn’t get the joke, returned home in a rage and immediately sent the unlucky landscape back to Renoir. Without hesitation, Renoir returned Edgar Degas his unfortunate pastel drawing, using the same carrier.
Politics for Auguste Renoir was a minor matter and not worth attention. "The crowd has no brains," joked the artist, recalling the story of how he was mistaken for a spy when drawing a scheme of the embankments of the Seine, and almost got drowned on the spot. The quickly gathered onlookers grew heated and demanded an immediate reprisal against the spy. But a miracle happened: the guards decided to shoot Renoir instead of drowning him.
It was decided to do it in the town-hall, but the miracle happened again. Contemplating his own death, Auguste was going to the execution and suddenly saw a familiar face — it was Raoul Rigault, a fugitive republican journalist whom Renoir saved from starvation and recapture a few years ago. Rigault became a police commissioner and an important person, so the guards who caught the artist just sang La Marseillaise in his honour and let him go with the coveted pass.
The Commune was already in Paris, and the monarchists from Versailles were outside it, with outposts between the two. Renoir already had a Republican pass, which meant that he could safely visit his family, who were waiting out the Paris massacre in Louveciennes. Very soon, he would also get the Versailles pass (with the help of another old friend). The main thing was not to show any side the opponent’s pass — otherwise no miracle would have saved him from being shot.
Renoir found a tree with a deep hollow between the outposts. Before crossing the border, he would take the necessary pass from the hollow, and hide the dangerous one. When going back, he would make a saving exchange. He had a family on one side and a couple of unfinished paintings on the other one.
Title illustration: Frédéric Bazille. The Portrait of Auguste Renoir, 1867.
Author: Anna Sidelnikova
It was decided to do it in the town-hall, but the miracle happened again. Contemplating his own death, Auguste was going to the execution and suddenly saw a familiar face — it was Raoul Rigault, a fugitive republican journalist whom Renoir saved from starvation and recapture a few years ago. Rigault became a police commissioner and an important person, so the guards who caught the artist just sang La Marseillaise in his honour and let him go with the coveted pass.
The Commune was already in Paris, and the monarchists from Versailles were outside it, with outposts between the two. Renoir already had a Republican pass, which meant that he could safely visit his family, who were waiting out the Paris massacre in Louveciennes. Very soon, he would also get the Versailles pass (with the help of another old friend). The main thing was not to show any side the opponent’s pass — otherwise no miracle would have saved him from being shot.
Renoir found a tree with a deep hollow between the outposts. Before crossing the border, he would take the necessary pass from the hollow, and hide the dangerous one. When going back, he would make a saving exchange. He had a family on one side and a couple of unfinished paintings on the other one.
Title illustration: Frédéric Bazille. The Portrait of Auguste Renoir, 1867.
Author: Anna Sidelnikova
