Pierre-Auguste Renoir was French painter, important figure in the Impressionist movement. His early work reflected many influences including those of Courbet, Manet, Corot, Ingres and Delacroix. Under the influence of Gustave Courbet and painters of the School of Barbizon he turned to plein air painting. Together with Claude Monet he develops the new painting style of Impressionism around 1870; Renoir is regarded as one of its main representatives. As a celebrator of feminine beauty “Renoir is the last representative of a tradition which runs in a straight line from Rubens to Watteau.” Renoir's artworks are famous for their vivacious light and saturated color, most frequently focusing on people in friendly and intimate compositions. The female nudes were one of his primary themes. In typical Impressionist manner, Renoir suggested the details of a picture through liberally brushed touches of color, so that his figures softly fuse with one another and their environment.
