La belle vie: impressionism's most joyful paintings. Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) is universally acclaimed and celebrated: museums pride themselves on his paintings, crowds flock to his retrospectives. His work shows art at its most light-hearted, sensual and luminous. Renoir never wanted anything ugly in his paintings, nor any dramatic action. "I like pictures which make me want to wander through them when it's a landscape," he said, "or pass my hand over breast or back if it's a woman." Renoir's entire oeuvre is dominated by the depiction of women - again and again he painted "these faunesses with their pouting lips" (Mallarme) and invented a new image of feminine beauty and sensuality. A prolific painter - he made several thousand works in his lifetime - he is perhaps the most beloved of the Impressionists. About the Series: Every book in TASCHEN's "Basic Art Series" features: a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist; approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions; and a concise biography.
- ISBN13 9783836539654
- Publish Date 3 October 2012
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 28 January 2021
- Publish Country DE
- Imprint Taschen GmbH
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 96
- Language English