MEET THE MASTERS __________________________________________________________________________ John Singer Sargent & Pierre Auguste Renoir

__________________________________________________________________________ John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) Sargent was born to American parents in Florence, Italy. He grew up in Europe and did not make his first visit to the U.S. until he was 20. As a boy, he often went on sketching trips with his mother. By the time he was 12, he began painting lessons. When he was 19, his family moved to Paris where he studied painting.

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) Sargent's paintings were mostly society portraits - portraits of women in beautiful and stylish gowns. He was very good at capturing his subject's personality in these paintings.

OYSTER GATHERERS AT CANCALE Sargent uses deeper colors to define each subject, capturing the way the light reflects off surfaces. Sargent skillfully painted the landscape and the figures. He also managed to capture some of the personalities of the people as they gaze off into the distance. He painted this scene as he found it.

Corcoran Gallery Museum, Washington, DC

__________________________________________________________________________ Pierre Auguste Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Was a very famous Impressionist painter. Born in France and by the age of 13 he was working as an assistant painter of porcelain.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Renoir was a talented and skilled artist who painted realistically because he studied the important art of the past. Mme. Charpentier and her children, 1878

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Renoir painted using lot of color to make the picture light and warm. The Impressionists painted very quickly right on the canvas. By the Water, 1880

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Later on his life he changed his technique to paint more portraits and figure paintings, mainly of women. Portrait of Berthe Morisot and daughter Julie Manet (1894)

Renoir tried to capture nature and light as it was. You can see the small brush strokes of built up paint. His colors are bright and sunny, as if you can almost feel the sunlight. Renoir's figures are not posed. THE WASHERWOMEN

Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore Maryland