Renoir: His Life and Works [Hardcover]

Francesca Castellani (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998

Featuring more that 250 color reproductions, this comprehensive edition explores Renoir's formative years, his artistic evolution among the Impressionist painters of the Parisian art world, and the fame he enjoyed before his death in 1919. Includes extensive critical text and captions.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Italian (translation)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 271 pages
• Publisher: Courage Books; First Edition edition (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762403322
• ISBN-13: 978-0762403325
• Product Dimensions: 13.8 x 10.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,697,606 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Renoir- his life and works, March 18, 2000

By 

Mary In The Midwest "mepmd" (Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Renoir: His Life and Works (Hardcover)

A very large lovely book with many of Renoir's most famous works. Has a somewhat brief bio as well with many actual photos of Renoir himself, his family and works.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stroll Into Renoir's Awe-Inspiring World of Art, April 8, 2009

By 

Rebecca*rhapsodyinblue* (CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Renoir: His Life and Works (Hardcover)

"This is Renoir, an artist faithful to himself and to his inner striving, but always receptive to the new; gifted with the humility of an apprentice and with the love of, and pride in his craftsmanship." ~ Francesca Castellani ~

I am so impressed with art historian Francesca Castellani for a marvelous job on this book, "Renoir: His Life And Works." She is a journalist who writes about 19th Century Italian and French art, and many essays on subjects such as Gustave Flaubert and Edgar Degas from among many others. She is also a freelancer at Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana in Rome. This is one of the most comprehensive, breathtaking, informative, largest and heaviest art books I have ever read and collected.

Along with Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, also known as "Painter of Modern Life" was my most admired Impressionist painters who had the extraordinary gift in depicting nature in the most beautiful and awe-inspiring techniques. They maintained a close friendship. They admired and influenced each other to the extent that Renoir did two portraits of Monet and did one for Monet's wife as well. Renoir, who loved to call himself "The Artisan of Painting," had a keen sense of balance and symmetry in his portraits of women, men and children. His masterpieces on human figures were artistically executed. His charming renderings on still lifes and landscapes were consistently marked by extreme focus on light and color, thus, making all his subjects realistically painted to perfection.

If he were not a painter, Renoir who was born on February 25, 1841 would have been a musician having had a good voice and musical aptitude. He studied at a Catholic School in Paris where he impressed Charles Gounod, a composer and the choirmaster of St. Eustache Church who invited the young Renoir to join his prestigious choir. Gounod later became renowned for his operas "Faust" and "Romeo and Juliet."

With this book, the readers are in for a real feast for the eyes and food for the brain as well - you will uncover more than 250 color reproductions of his famous and best works of art with respective text and captions. There are also some reproductions in black and white. While I love all of his masterworks reproduced in this book, I will only mention a few that extremely caught my eyes; "Flowers In A Vase" (pg 44), "Vase of Flowers" (pg 45), "Gladioli" (pg 172), "Flowers In A Vase" (pg 217), "Picking Flowers" (pg 194), "In The Meadow" (pg 195), "Girls At The Piano" (pg 199), "Woman With A Guitar" (pg 213), "Strawberries" (pg 166), "Dance In The City" (pg 169), "The Wave" (pg 137), "By The Seashore" (pg 166) and "Monet Painting In His Garden At Argenteuil" (pg 65).

Please join me for a stroll into Renoir's awe-inspiring world of art and tread into his beautiful landscapes as we discover his interesting life - from his formative years, his evolution as an artist, and his amazing masterworks - all in 271 pages of this remarkable book, which I wholeheartedly recommend to any lover of art who appreciates Renoir's paintings. This is also a perfect gift to someone who shares your love for this art form. I can truly attest that the receiver will have a great sense of gratitude and will forever be thankful to the giver.

"Painting flowers rests my brain. It doesn't require intellectual effort I make when I have a model. When I paint flowers, I set color tonalities on the canvas and experiment with bold values, without worrying about wasting a canvas." ~ Pierre-Auguste Renoir ~