Les Grandes Baigneuses
Sometimes an artistic crisis is just what we need.
There are many ways to describe and be fond of this painting, and I admit up front that find myself charmed by the women in the painting. However, I shall try to look beyond the obvious beauty in the scene, and comment upon a different dimention. People well versed in art are aquainted with this other dimention that I speak of, but for the rest of us, I think this is worthwhile to reflect upon. What the painting first and foremost represents, I think, is the benefit of breaking the rules. I will explain why, but to do so we need to say something about the artist.
Pierre-August Renoir
Pierre-August Renoir was born 25th of February 1841 in Limoges, France. Renoir started painting when he was 13, as an apprentice in the shop of a porcelain painter. He showed himself to be rather good at this, and he was soon given assignments of decorating hand fans and other eye-catching objects for women. In 1862, however, he started to study art under Charles Gleyre in Paris, and through his studies Renoir became acquainted with new people, most notably the artists Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille and Claude Monet. These were connections that would show themselves to last, and together with these men, Renoir became a participant in establishing the — now famous — artistic…
