Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s (1841–1919) timelessly charming paintings still reflect our ideals of happiness, love, and beauty. Derived from our large-format volume, the most comprehensive retrospective of his work published to date, this compact edition examines the personal history and motivation behind the legend. Though he began by painting landscapes in the Impressionist style, Renoir found his true affinity in portraits, after which he abandoned the Impressionists altogether. Though often misunderstood, Renoir remains one of history’s most well-loved painters―undoubtedly because his works exude such warmth, tenderness, and good spirit.

In an incisive text tracing the artist’s career and stylistic evolution, Gilles Néret shows how Renoir reinvented the painted female form, with his everyday goddesses and their plump forms, rounded hips and breasts. Renoir’s later phase, marked by his return to the simple pleasure of the female nude in his baigneuses series, was his most innovative and stylistically influential, and would inspire such masters as Matisse and Picasso.

With a complete chronology, bibliography, photos, sketches, and brilliant reproductions, this is the essential work of reference on this enduring master artist.

皮埃尔•奥古斯特•雷诺阿（Pierre-Auguste Renoir，1841—1919）永不过时的迷人画作仍然可以反映出我们理想中的幸福、爱情和美。这个缩印本改编自我们出版的大开本——迄今为止对他已发表作品的最全面的回顾，探讨了这位传奇人物背后的个人历史和动机。尽管雷诺阿刚开始是用印象派的风格创作风景画，但在肖像画中他才发现自己真正喜欢的东西，之后他便彻底抛弃了印象派。尽管经常被误解，但雷诺阿仍然是历史上最受喜爱的画家之一——毫无疑问，这是因为他的作品所散发出来的温暖、柔情和良好的精神风貌。

在一篇深刻的描述这位艺术家的事业和风格演变的文章中，Gilles Néret介绍了雷诺阿如何用他每天画的女神像和她们丰满的身材、圆润的臀部和胸部重塑所画的女性形象的。雷诺阿晚期是他最具创造力和风格影响力的一个阶段，给马蒂斯（Matisse）和毕加索（Picasso）等大师带去了灵感。

书中包含完整的大事年表、参考书目、照片、素描和上乘的复制品，是关于这位经久不衰的艺术大师的一本必不可少的参考书。