A sea of Stories Renoir

A Sea of Stories

20

Renoir

Text

Ángeles García Illustrations

Miguel Cerro

A Sea of Stories

www.editorialmediterrania.com

Renoir

A Sea of Stories

Cub_UMH_RENOIR_ING_TD.indd 1

10/8/16 12:08

A Journey of Discovery

I

remember perfectly the first time my

embarked on an unforgettable adventure.

parents took me to Paris. It was their

Entering the Orsay Museum, which is

I was old enough to get to know it. In

left open-mouthed with amazement by

favourite city and they decided that

reality, I preferred spending my holidays

in the countryside. I’d always loved nature

housed in a former railway station, I was

a beautiful painting entitled, Dance at Le

Moulin

de

la

Galette. I

could

not

and animals, and I found museums tiring

understand where the light came from.

convinced me to go by revealing a secret:

around and dance with all these people

and boring. In the end, my mother “Paris is amazing. Its museums are not

simply museums but magical places that

contain extraordinary treasures and are inhabited by some extremely talented

characters.� Since I also loved treasures

Interior_UMH_RENOIR.indd 2-3

and mystery books, I did not object and we

I wanted to enter the painting to walk who seemed so happy. Surely this could not be a painting. It had to be real: a

window looking out onto another world.

I had entered a magical place, just like my mother had promised.

10/8/16 13:49

Who Was Renoir?

young age, he was a happy, charming boy

Then I started to notice a name that

work in order to earn money for the family.

appeared in most of the texts in the museum: Pierre-Auguste Renoir. So I began

to ask my parents all about this man that I had just discovered and who, without me

realising it at the time, had captivated me forever. I learned that the artist was

born on 25th February 1841 in Limoges, a French town famous for its porcelain. The artist’s father was a tailor, who had seven

children but did not earn much money.

So, when Auguste was only four, they all moved to Paris in search of a better life.

As he was always drawing and scribbling in notebooks, his father sent him to a school

where he could learn to paint. From a very

Interior_UMH_RENOIR.indd 4-5

and when he was thirteen he began to

His job consisted of painting delicate posies of flowers on porcelain cups and

plates. He is said to have been paid five

centimes for every dozen posies he painted.

Who knows how much that would be in

today’s money, but he was very happy.

Later, he also decorated fans. By doing

these two jobs, he learnt his trade and also discovered how to play with colour. His

thoughts about art were also formed

during this time: painting had to be done

properly and be very beautiful, because there were so many unpleasant things in the world. He was a man who loved life

and wanted to express this passion through his painting.

10/8/16 13:49

We continued our museum visit and the

precisely what the Impressionists aimed to

of the group for certain periods, what these

They did not outline figures or paint black

as I stood in front of the various portraits

during the 1860s. Although the group only

to replicate what they saw in front of them in

brushstrokes and the layers of paint were

feeling of being in a magical place increased of impossibly beautiful girls and women.

I could not take my eyes off them. To me, they seemed to radiate an intense feeling of serenity. I wanted to enter Renoir’s world

provoke. This group of artists formed in Paris lasted for ten years, during this time they

organised eight exhibitions, which made them

the most popular artists in history, even today.

and join the figures in enjoying the nature

I asked my parents how the Impressionists

touch the trees, to stand in the light and feel

that although these artists did not all think

that the artist had created. I wanted to run and

the wind and the sun’s gentle rays. My mother explained that my reaction was

Interior_UMH_RENOIR.indd 8-9

differed from other artists. They pointed out in exactly the same way and that many of them, including Renoir, were only members

artists had in common was that they wanted an honest way and to give their work a

spontaneous feel, capturing a moment in time. They explained that the very challenge of trying to paint trees, flowers and people

shadows, as was traditional. They used small sometimes very thick. Remaining faithful to

what they saw, trees could be painted mauve, faces orange and clouds green. I was told that a perfect example of this is The Swing, a work

under the light conditions at a certain time of

in which we view a man from the back saying

Normally, they tried to finish a painting in a

standing on a swing, whilst a little girl and

day must have been exciting in itself. single sitting, in just one day. Sometimes they despaired because they did not have enough

time to finish their work before the sun set.

something amusing to a young woman

another man look on. This is a typical happy

scene set in a beautiful garden, which transmits the joys of life.

10/8/16 13:49