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A major new biography of this enduringly popular artist by the world's foremost scholar of his life and workExpertly researched and beautifully written by the world's leading authority on Auguste Renoir's life and work, Renoir fully reveals this most intriguing of Impressionist artists. The narrative is interspersed with more than 1,100 extracts from letters by, to, and about Renoir, 452 of which come from unpublished letters. Renoir became hugely popular despite great obstacles: thirty years of poverty followed by thirty years of progressive paralysis of his fingers. Despite these hardships, much of his work is optimistic, even joyful. Close friends who contributed money, contacts, and companionship enabled him to overcome these challenges to create more than 4,000 paintings. Renoir had intimate relationships with fellow artists (Caillebotte, Czanne, Monet, and Morisot) , with his dealers (Durand-Ruel, Bernheim, and Vollard) and with his models (Lise, Aline, Gabrielle, and Dde) . Barbara Ehrlich White's lifetime of research informs this fascinating biography that challenges common misconceptions surrounding Renoir's reputation.Since 1961 White has studied more than 3,000 letters relating to Renoir and gained unique insight into his personality and character. Renoir provides an unparalleled and intimate portrait of this complex artist through images of his own iconic paintings, his own words, and the words of his contemporaries. 105 illustrations, 58 in color



About the Author

Barbara Ehrlich White

Barbara Ehrlich White, Ph.D., lectured on art history at Tufts University from 1965-2002. Currently, she is Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Art History at Tufts University. She wrote Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters, published in 1984, which is still in print and has sold 125,000 copies. It is in 1,285 libraries in 18 countries and the New York Times chose it as one of the two best art books of 1984. White is the author of Knopf's Impressionists Side By Side: Their Friendships, Rivalries, and Artistic Exchanges, and numerous journal articles. She also edited Prentice-Hall's Impressionism in Perspective in 1978. Her 2017 Renoir: An Intimate Biography is based on her collection of 3,000 letters by, to, and about Renoir; the biography quotes 1,100 letters of which 452 are unpublished. In the course of her career, she won many grants and awards. In 2014, the French Minister of Culture and Communication awarded her Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of Art and Literature) . She lectures about Renoir and Impressionism. In 1973 she was Associate Producer and Script Writer of an educational television documentary on Renoir for public television which won an Emmy for Outstanding Program Achievement.



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