PIERRE-AUGUSTE-RENOIR– AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION Step 1 - Introducing the Pierre-Auguste Renoir Slideshow Guide BEGIN READING HERE MOTIVATION Are you good at pretending? Today I want you to pretend you have a famous artist for a father. Would you like that? When you grew up, would you think about writing a book about your famous father? Click Start Lesson To Begin 1. Are you good at pretending? Today I want you to pretend you have a famous artist for a father. Would you like that? When you grew up, would you think about writing a book about your famous father? Click Next To Change Slide DEVELOPMENT Do you think it would be fun to pose for your father while he painted you? This painting of little Jean was done by his father. Do you think Jean had to hold perfectly still for a long time for this portrait? Listen to Jean describe how his father painted his portraits. Be able to tell me how he managed to have him hold still, and also listen for the two reasons Jean looks like a girl! ASSEMBLY AUDIO - RENOIR INTERMEDIATE LEVEL SCRIPT: “When I was still very young, say at the age of three, four, or five, my father would wait until I found something to occupy me and keep me quiet. Are you wondering why my hair was so long for a boy? My father kept his children’s hair long, like you see here, even at age seven, as a protection against falls. He was very concerned with safety. He also enjoyed the pleasure of painting long hair, so I still had curly red locks at the age of seven. I was never punished when I behaved badly while posing. My father allowed me great freedom. He did not want a still model, so I could run about as I pleased. Only now and then I had to be motionless for a few minutes. If some detail in a portrait required that I should stay still for longer, my nurse would read Anderson’s fairy tales aloud, and she and my father would enjoy them as much as I did!” Click Audio to play music 1 PIERRE AUGUSTE RENOIR – Ages 8 – 9 | MeetTheMasters Online Edition PIERRE-AUGUSTE-RENOIR– AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION 2. SELF-PORTRAIT SCRIPT: “My father was 5’10” tall, with light brown hair before it turned white. In his later years he had a beautiful white beard. He always wore a beard -- not that he liked it particularly, but because he saved time by not having to shave. What most struck people, at first meeting my father, were his eyes and his hands. His eyes were light brown, and they were sharp and penetrating. He would often point out a ladybug climbing up a single blade in a tuft of grass. We, with our young eyes, did not see it! His eyes always seemed to be laughing, but it was a gentle and loving laughter.” Click Next To Change Slide 3. PHOTO - OLD AGE SCRIPT: “His hands were noticed, because they were terribly deformed. His arthritis had made the joints stiff and caused the thumbs to turn inwards towards the palms, and his fingers were bent towards the wrists. My father was a very happy man, and he loved life. The world was a festival of colors and light to him.” END OF AUDIO Does he sound like a man you would like for a father? (YES) Remember Jean said the world was a festival of colors and light to his father. He has been called a “painter of happiness.” What colors would you imagine a “painter of happiness” would use? (BRIGHT, CLEAR, WARM COLORS) Can you imagine “happiness” painted in rainbow colors? Let’s look at our first Renoir painting, and I want you to raise your hand if Renoir used his rainbow palette in this picture titled The Swing. Click Next To Change Slide 4. THE SWING (YES) Good for you for seeing those rainbow colors! Do you remember what else besides color Renoir found fascinating in the world around him? (LIGHT) Renoir was not alone in his fascination with light and color. The artists who showed the world a new way of painting light and color were called IMPRESSIONISTS. Renoir was an IMPRESSIONIST painter, and The Swing was shown in the Third Impressionist Exhibition. Do you think Renoir was pleased with the exhibit? I’ll let Renoir answer that. He said, “The only thing I got out of the exhibit was the label ‘Impressionist,’ a name I hate.” 2 PIERRE AUGUSTE RENOIR – Ages 8 – 9 | MeetTheMasters Online Edition PIERRE-AUGUSTE-RENOIR– AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION Have you ever experienced light filtering through the trees dappling the appearance of the landscape and people, like you see here? Renoir, like the other Impressionists, liked to paint outdoors, so he could catch the magic of light on color. Look carefully to answer this. Does light change the color of an object? (YES) Can you point out an example of that in this painting? (SPOTS OF DIFFERENT COLORS WHERE LIGHT HITS) Renoir painted this scene in an abandoned park near his home in Paris, France. One of his favorite models, Jeanne, posed under a tree, holding the rope swing. Renoir took great pleasure in painting women and children. He wanted his models relaxed, so they would talk or listen to music as they posed for him. Does this painting give you a relaxed, gentle feeling? (YES) Let’s travel with his son, Jean, to one of his favorite places to visit in spring or summer. Click Next To Change Slide 5. SEINE AT CHATOU (sane at shah-too) Picture Renoir at his easel along the banks of this river in the summertime. He and his good friend, Claude Monet, painted everything in sight. The newly built railways took the artists with their families out of Paris in minutes to the cool riverbanks where they could swim, sail, and dance at the amusement parks. Renoir would happily paint while his family played, had a picnic, and relaxed. Let’s hear how Renoir’s son, Jean, describes this area he visited often with his father. Listen carefully, and be able to tell me what fascinated Renoir when he painted water. CONTINUE ASSEMBLY AUDIO - RENOIR INTERMEDIATE LEVEL Click To Play Audio SCRIPT: “It was the most delightful spot in the world -- shaded by giant trees, laughing groups of boaters at the water’s edge, gaily dressed girls on the shore, and dancing gleams of sunlight flashing through the leaves. My father would eagerly set up his canvas by the river’s edge. He would talk to us as he painted saying, ‘Just look closely at the water. It changes from hour to hour. Right now it’s green with a little orange in it, but in an hour it will be yellow and violet, and if you mix the right values…’ and he would go on and on about the changing colors.” END OF AUDIO Does it sound like a place you would enjoy visiting, like Renoir and his family did? What fascinated Renoir about water? (LIGHT AND CHANGING COLORS) 3 PIERRE AUGUSTE RENOIR – Ages 8 – 9 | MeetTheMasters Online Edition PIERRE-AUGUSTE-RENOIR– AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION Renoir and the Impressionists did painting-after-painting of water -- flowing, sparkling, shimmering water. Let’s pretend again that Renoir is your father, and you are with him by this river. You walk up to his easel to get a close-up view of the painting he’s been working on all day. Let’s see if you can find those same colors in the water that Renoir talked about seeing. Click Next To Change Slide 6. CLOSE-UP CHATOU Can you find orange, purple, yellow, and green in the water? (YES) Can you see the brushstrokes? (YES) You can tell that Renoir painted very quickly and used small strokes of bright color to capture the effect of sunlight and movement. Let’s pretend to paint like Renoir. Pick up your paintbrushes (PANTOMINE) and paint quickly with short dabs and dashes. You make a great Impressionist painter! Which is more fun: to be on the banks of a river or on a boat in the river? (BOAT) Let’s take a look. Click Next To Change Slide 7. THE SKIFF Do you see any reflections in this Renoir painting? (YES) Quickly count about how many reflections you see. (MANY) You will be creating a reflection in your art projects, too. When Renoir was painting the scenes along the river, he was still a young struggling artist. He rented a studio in Paris for a while and paid the bills by painting and selling portraits. All the money he could scrape together went to pay for his studio, a model, and coal for his stove. Renoir never forgot the magic summers he spent painting and developing a new way of seeing that would change the history of art forever. Besides loving to paint sparkling water, Renoir loved to paint… Click Next To Change Slide 8. LUNCHEON AT THE BOATING PARTY … his friends! The title of this painting is Luncheon at the Boating Party. Does it look like the people are enjoying themselves and are relaxing with their friends? (YES) Imagine Renoir at his easel nearby enjoying both the party and his painting. Before Renoir came along, no one had ever thought of recording an event of everyday life, outdoors, on a large canvas. On many Sundays, Renoir’s friends would help carry his 4 PIERRE AUGUSTE RENOIR – Ages 8 – 9 | MeetTheMasters Online Edition PIERRE-AUGUSTE-RENOIR– AGES 8 – 9 | ONLINE EDITION canvas from his studio to the spot he had chosen to paint.