Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25, 1841 - December 3, 1919) was a French painter.
One of the leading artists in the Impressionist movement and possibly the most popular artist in his circle, noted for his radiant, intimate paintings, particularly of the female nude. The "people's" Impressionist, the flip side of Monet. One can spend profitably a long time viewing The Boating Party, wishing one could join in that great party.
Outstanding examples of his talents as a portraitist are Madame Charpentier and Her Children (1878, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City) and Jeanne Samary (1879, Louvre). Other notable paintings by Renoir include La Loge (1874, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London); Woman with Fan (1875) and The Swing (1875), both in the Louvre, Paris; The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881, Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.); The Umbrellas (National Gallery, London); and Vase of Chrysanthemums (1895, Musée de Beaux-Arts, Rouen)— one of the many still lifes of flowers and fruit he painted throughout his life.
During the Paris Commune in 1871, the Pierre-Auguste Renoir was arrested as a government spy. His life was saved when he was recognized by one of the Commune leaders, whom Renoir had himself protected on another occasion.
He died at Cagnes-sur-Mer, a village in the south of France and is buried in Essoyes Cimetière, in Essoyes, Aube, France.