Renoir, My Father (The Lively Arts) [Paperback]

Jean Renoir (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Lively Arts | Publication Date: June 1988

In this delightful memoir, Jean Renoir, the director of such masterpieces of the cinema as Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game, tells the life story of his father, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the great Impressionist painter. Recounting Pierre-Auguste's extraordinary career, beginning as a painter of fans and porcelain, recording the rules of thumb by which he worked, and capturing his unpretentious and wonderfully engaging talk and personality, Jean Renoir's book is both a wonderful double portrait of father and son and, in the words of the distinguished art historian John Golding, it "remains the best account of Renoir, and, furthermore, among the most beautiful and moving biographies we have."

Includes 12 pages of color plates and 18 pages of black and white images.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

About the Author

JEAN RENOIR (1894–1979), the son of the painter Auguste Renoir, was born in Paris, grew up in the south of France, and served as a cavalryman and pilot during World War I. He directed his first film, La Fille de l’eau, in 1925 and followed it with many others, including his masterpieces Grand Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939). In 1975 Jean Renoir received an Academy Award for his lifetime contribution to the cinema. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Mercury House (June 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916515397
• ISBN-13: 978-0916515393
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,055,997 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book on Renoir; a good book too, about Paris, May 2, 2000

By 

Owen Hughes (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Renoir, My Father (The Lively Arts) (Paperback)

Not only is this a book about Renoir, whose tableaux peer out of every other art store on every mall in North America (what a curious fate!), it is also a book about Paris. Born in 1841, Renoir was older than most of the other Impressionists with whom he grew friendly later. He also had the chance to see Paris as it was before the Commune and the war of 1870. He lived a good part of his life on the Butte in Montmartre and it is hard now to recapture the atmosphere up there among the hordes of tourists. Yet early on Sunday mornings with a light rain playing on the umbrellas of the artist's stands in the Place du Tertre, you can wander freely among the memories of the rue Lepic and elsewhere, and catch glimpses of Renoir (and others) as you pass through the old streets. Reading this book first will help.

Jean Renoir is a very famous artist in his own right, having made numerous films and become one of the most acclaimed directors in French cinema history. Here he has taken great pains to paint a fine portrait of his renowned father, this time with a pen. He has succeeded admirably.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, February 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Renoir, My Father (New York Review Books Classics) (Paperback)

Impressionism is my favorite style of painting so I was really enchanted with this biography. Written by Renoir's middle son, Jean, Renoir, My Father not only gives us an intimate look at the life of Auguste Renoir, it gives us an intimate look at the Paris of Renoir's day as well.

As we get to know Renoir we get to know his contemporaries, too. Jean Renoir writes about Monet, Cezanne, Manet, Sisley and many other great artists. We learn many "little known" facts, such as Monet's penchant for lace and his "artful" way with the ladies.

Paris really comes alive in this book. Many of the places Renoir writes about still exist and can be visited today. This book makes any art lover's trip to Paris more meaningful whether he's a Renoir fan or not.

When reading this book, one must remember that this is not a "run of the mill" biography. This is a son writing about the father he adored. The portrait we are given is very intimate, detailed and loving. It's obvious that Jean Renoir adored his father, just as Auguste Renoir adored his family.

Ultimately, this book is a beautiful tribute from a loving son to a father who was one of history's consummate artists. If you have any interest at all in art, this is one book you simply must not pass up. The last page alone will break your heart.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A JOY, THANK YOU, February 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Renoir, My Father (The Lively Arts) (Paperback)

This book has given me tremendous insight into the Renoir family as well as the birth of Impressionism. The previous reviewer said it better than I--it really IS like sitting down and having a conversation with Renoir, himself, and I, too find a new gem with each rereading. I know of no other book that illuminates the life of an artist so intimately or honestly.