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Art unveiled
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Don’t miss the BBC documentary on Renoir and one of the most joyful canvases of the Impressionist era
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THE PAINTING Dance At The Moulin De La Galette reveals not only the celebratory aspects of Renoir’s painting but also traces the bloody and turbulent times which Paris was recovering from in the mid-1870s
One of the leading lights of the Impressionist era, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was a prolific artist. In a long and illustrious career that spanned well over five decades, he painted thousands of joyfully vibrant canvases.
In his final years, even when he was crippled by muscular rheumatism, the French master found ways of being one with his art. When it became too painful to even hold a brush in his hand, he navigated towards sculpture. With the help of two young sculptors he created several works of beauty. Renoir never gave up painting and even on the last day of his life, he painted, holding the brush between his twisted fingers.
He chose to enter the world of art at the age of 13, becoming an apprentice decorative painter in a porcelain factory. During lunch time, he would visit the art galleries of Louvre. Renoir’s best paintings are remembered for featuring extraordinarily effervescent portraits, splendid nudes, vibrant landscapes, lively sea-scapes, and colourful still-lives. His outdoor paintings caught the spirit of flashing and flickering light, and portrayed joyfulness and laughter of holidaying men and women.
Through these paintings, Renoir became one of the most representative figures of the Impressionist movement. In its series titled “Private Life Of A Masterpiece”, a BBC documentary looks at his painting “Dance At The Moulin De La Galette” closely, revealing not only the celebratory aspects of Renoir’s painting but also tracing the bloody and turbulent times which Paris was still recovering from, in the mid-1870s.
The film also divulges that Renoir actually painted two pictures, both dated 1876 and virtually identical apart from the size: one six feet across, the second half that size. A century later, in 1990, the smaller painting hit the headlines when it was sold for $78.2m (£48m) at Sotheby’s in New York – the second highest price ever paid for a painting.
The engrossing tale can be watched on BBC World at 5.40 p.m. on January 19; the program will be re-telecast at 3.40 p.m. and 10.40 p.m. on January 20.
GIRIDHAR KHASNIS
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