Pierre Auguste Renoir, son of a seamstress, was born in Limoges (France) in 1841 and soon after, his family moved to Paris.
After studying painting on porcelain, Auguste Renoir followed courses at the Fine Art School (Beaux-Arts) in Paris. He dropped out to join Charles Gleyre's workshop where he met Bazille, Sisley, Pissaro and Monet. In 1868, Renoir breaks through with his impressionist work during a Parisian show that followed the first impressionist show in 1874. He travelled to Algeria and Italy in 1881/82. This trip made his style evolve from impressionist to paintings with more outline, like Ingres.
In 1883, he married Aline Chargot. Later, around 1889, he went back to his previous style until 1903 when he started to suffer from arthritis. He then moved to Southern France. He was on a wheel-chair and continued to paint with a brush attached to a long handle. He died in Cagnes-sur-mer, near Nice, in 1919.
Renoir remains an icon of the joie de vivre who painted gardens, flowers, ladies and children.
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