[.ca] Renoir Landscapes: 1865-1883 (ISBN 1857093224)

A Selected Look at Renoir's Landscapes:
If you like impressionist landscapes or Renoir, don't miss this book. Most people think of Monet as the ultimate French landscape painter, but long before Monet picked up a brush there was a superb tradition of French landscape painting, especially among the Barbizon school and in earlier treatments of classical themes. As you can see from that observation, Monet's brush tended to hide or erase a lot of other fine landscape art from the general memory. Perhaps no contemporary was as effectively overshadowed in the same landscape realm as was Pierre-Auguste Renoir's work from 1865-1883 when he, too, was an impressionist who produced many fine landscapes. In this catalog from the current show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, you'll see that Renoir did an astonishing variety of landscape paintings, each of which displays a different style. I am reminded of the early work of Picasso where he was able to adapt many different styles as easily as most people put on a new set of clothes. My estimation for Renoir as an innovator greatly rose from seeing this work. To put this innovation in context, this catalog displays many parallel works by other landscape artists. In addition, the catalog descriptions are pretty lengthy and build nicely on the introductory essays that explain how Renoir's classical training and inclination to stay in the studio rather than paint outdoors put him at a psychological and practical disadvantage in developing his landscape art. Landscape painting for Renoir was often a fun exercise rather than the source of planned works. But his landscapes were often quite popular, as when one landscape was accepted at the Salon while two figurative works were rejected. Abashed, Renoir withdrew the landscape rather than have his public image depend on this kind of work. You'll also learn about the challenges of finding a market for Renoir's landscapes which I thought was fascinating. It's hard to imagine such a great artist struggling to sell his innovative work, isn't it? Most agree that Renoir was one of the greatest figure painters. His landscapes often contain small figures. Many of his best works combine larger figures and the outdoors. Having seen this book, I was left wishing that he had done more to combine these two particular sides of his talent. Don't expect to see a lot of masterpieces in the book although there are some. Think of viewing this book as being more like seeing the studies for major works in many cases rather than major works themselves. I came away with a greater appreciation for how hard it is to make gorgeous impressionist landscapes. Let this book remind you to take a walk in some lovely outdoor place whenever you get a chance.