Renoir: Revered and Reviled

Renoir: Revered and Reviled

April, Fathom events – “Renoir” was presented in select HD digital cinemas nationwide by Fathom Events in cooperation with Seventh Art Productions, enjoying its third successful season in presenting Exhibition on Screen, a one-night film event held on Thursday, April 21, 2016. It is a story told in representative paintings of one of the most influential artists of all time and a principal contributor to the creation of the Impressionist movement  (which he later rejected), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919).

This compelling overview of Renoir’s masterful works focuses primarily on the Barnes Collection in Philadelphia which is home to more Renoir’s than any other gallery in the  world. August Renoir was father of the celebrated French film director Jean Renoir, creator of such works as La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939), often cited by critics as one of the greatest films ever made.

In April, 1874, August Renoir, accompanied by Monet, Sisley, Pissarro and several others displayed their works at the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris and from there, a prolific Renoir was to go on to create several thousand paintings during his lifetime, 181 of which are on display at the Barnes, representing the single largest collection of his works. One of the best known Impressionist works is Renoir’s 1876 Dance at the Moulin de la Galette, a painting depicting an open-air garden scene crowded with people dancing, a place close to where Renoir lived. Fellow artists who admired him included Picasso, Matisse and Claude Monet.