Renoir was born in 1841 in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France, the fifth of the seven children of Paul Renoir, a tailor, and his wife, Marie. His father's business failed shortly after his birth. Renoir's mother died when he was either nine or ten years old. He spent his childhood years moving from one uninspiring job to another
The experience left him with a lifelong distrust of the profession of art and a conviction that creative talent should be encouraged and developed by providing young people with technical education. When he was sixteen, Renoir left school to begin working as an apprentice lithographer. He began painting in 1864 while still in his teens and developed a fascination with realism which would later inform his work.
In 1866, while still a student, he won a scholarship to continue his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under the guidance of William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Antonin Pevsner. His friendship with Bouguereau lasted until Bouguereau's death in 1924; they exhibited together regularly until Renoir's death in 1973.
Why shouldn’t art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world.PierreAuguste Renoir
To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.PierreAuguste Renoir
I've been 40 years discovering that the queen of all colors was black.PierreAuguste Renoir
