Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir^[1] (French: [pjɛʁ oɡyst ʁənwaʁ]; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau."^[2]

He was the father of actor Pierre Renoir (1885–1952), filmmaker Jean Renoir (1894–1979) and ceramic artist Claude Renoir (1901–1969). He was the grandfather of the filmmaker Claude Renoir (1913–1993), son of Pierre.

Life

Youth

The Theater Box, 1874, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France, in 1841. His father, Léonard Renoir, was a tailor of modest means, so, in 1844, Renoir's family moved to Paris in search of more favorable prospects. The location of their home, in rue d’Argenteuil in central Paris, placed Renoir in proximity to the Louvre. Although the young Renoir had a natural proclivity for drawing, he exhibited a greater talent for singing. His talent was encouraged by his teacher, Charles Gounod, who was the choirmaster at the Church of St Roch at the time. However, due to the family's financial circumstances, Renoir had to discontinue his music lessons and leave school at the age of thirteen to pursue an apprenticeship at a porcelain factory.^[3][4]

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Ernst Josephson

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David and Saul (1878) Nationalmuseum

Strömkarlen (1882-1884) Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde

Ernst Abraham Josephson (1851-1906) was a Swedish painter and poet. He specialized in portraits, genre scenes of folklife and folklore.^[1][2]

Background

He was born to a middle-class family of merchants of Jewish ancestry. His uncle, Ludvig Josephson (1832-1899) was a dramatist and his uncle Jacob Axel Josephson (1818-1880) was a composer. When he was ten, his father Ferdinand Semy Ferdinand Josephson (1814-1861) left home and he was raised by his mother, Gustafva Jacobsson (1819-1881) and three older sisters.^[1][3][4]

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Pontus Fürstenberg


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Portrait of Fürstenberg by Ernst Josephson

Pontus Fürstenberg (4 October 1827 – 10 April 1902) was a Swedish art collector and merchant from a Jewish family. He was married to Göthilda Magnus. ...
 

Pontus supported artists in many ways, not only with food, room, clothes and art materials, but he also helped them to study abroad in places like Paris. He also would pay artist's debts for them. For this support Pontus received paintings and other pieces or arts. Without Pontus's direct and indirect patronage, artists like Carl Larsson, Ernst Josephson and Anders Zorn would not have been able to focus exclusively on their art.

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Peter Paul Rubens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 2016-05-12

Sir Peter Paul Rubens (/ˈruːbənz/;^[1] Dutch: [ˈrybə(n)s]; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish Baroque painter. A proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, Rubens is well known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.

In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England.
 
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