(1841-1919) French Impressionist painter. He met Monet and Sisley in the early 1860s, and together they formed the nucleus of the Impressionist movement. He developed a lively, colorful painting style with feathery brushwork (known as his “rainbow style”) and painted many voluptuous female nudes, such as The Bathers about 1884–87 (Philadelphia Museum of Art, US). In his later years he turned to sculpture.
Born in Limoges, Renoir trained as a porcelain painter. He joined an academic studio 1861, and the first strong influences on his style were the Rococo artists Boucher and Watteau and the Realist Courbet. In the late 1860s Impressionism made an impact and Renoir began to work outdoors. Painting with Monet, he produced many pictures of people at leisure by the river Seine. From 1879 he made several journeys abroad, to N Africa, the Channel Islands, Italy, and later to Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany. After his Italian visit of 1881 he moved toward a more Classical structure in his work, notably in Les Parapluies/Umbrellas about 1881–84 (National Gallery, London). In 1906 he settled in the south of France. Many of his sculptures are monumental female nudes not unlike those of Maillol.

(1894-1979) French film director. His films, characterized by their humanism and naturalistic technique, include Boudu sauvé des eaux/Boudu Saved from Drowning 1932, La Grande Illusion 1937, and La Rčgle du jeu/The Rules of the Game 1939. In 1975 he received an honorary Academy Award for his life’s work. He was the son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir.