Fort Worth exposes Renoir's nudes

On the occasion of the centenary of the death of the painter Philippe-Auguste Renoir, the Kimbell Art Museum of Forth Worth presents an exhibition of the nudes of the artist, entitled "Renoir: The Body, the Senses" until January 26, 2020.

Recognized as one of the founders of Impressionism, Renoir has constantly drawn inspiration from the human body that he portrays as a bone-free form invading the entire space of his paintings. This retrospective that includes more than sixty paintings, drawings, pastels and sculptures captures more than 50 years of evolution of the work of the master. According to Esther Bell, Chief Curator of the Clark Art Institute who co-organized this retrospective, "Renoir showed an interest in the line, the shape of the body, the silhouette, certainly under the influence of Italian frescoes ".

The paintings entitled "Blonde in the bath" and "bathers playing with a crab" illustrate this expression of style from the masters of the Peninsula. Further on, Renoir faces Degas (The Bathers), Camille Corot (The Rest), Peter Paul Rubens (The Three Graces), Paul Cézanne or Boucher (Diane leaving his bath, 1742) which he 's inspired strongly. All these artists helped to help Renoir put feminine flesh into perspective. We discover the contrast with the works of Paul Cézanne and those of Eugène Delacroix.

The exhibition also highlights several themes: the male look in the nineteenth century, the talent of Renoir as a designer, the effects of light on the skin, the artistic practice of the master, the fascination with the outline, the curve, the layout. The senses are represented everywhere in the painter's canvas like the portrait of the "Sleeping Girl". Her look at the female body will have a great impact on the masters of modernism and will leave an impression on many of them like Picasso (Nude painting his hair) which is inspired by Renoir as shown in the photo in the last room. Because Renoir did not care about the line, the look or the anatomy of his models but rather the color shift.

The exhibition presents the constant evolution of the painter's style through his late studies and sculptures that sparked controversy. This realistic portrayal of women has fueled many quarrels in the art world. Attacks on work are reported in the exhibition but also in the catalog. Many critics of the time lambasted his work treating him politely "immoral".