Cagnes Landscape

Cagnes Landscape is a series of paintings done by Pierre-Auguste Renoir of the landscapes around the Cagnes area

Renoir had a very good eye when it came to landscape painting. Having been under the instruction of Charles Gleyre at an art school in Paris, he developed a passion for landscape painting. Charles Gleyre was a renowned French landscape painter.

The Cagnes Landscape series of paintings were done between 1907 and 1908. This was Renoir’s late years in painting. Renoir had a house in Cagnes where he lived until he died in 1919. Cagnes Landscape series of paintings were part of his last artworks and they were carefully crafted to leave a lasting impression.

On this series, Renoir painted landscapes around, with various images of buildings, pathways, and vegetation. The paintings were synonymous with impressionist painting techniques. Renoir who was famous for his passion for painting nude feminine models, choose to paint the Cagnes landscape as his last touch on landscape painting.

The Cagnes Landscape series features paintings whose settings are different but the style is almost identical. For instance, the Cagnes Landscape IV is a painting that depicts the images of some trees in what seems like a bush. The painting is a panoramic orientation painting. Natural light is abundant and Renoir perfectly balances it with the contrast to bring out an amazing color blend.

Another one, Landscape At Cagnes, features the images of a pathway, a woman walking along the pathway and some tree bushes at a far distance.

Again natural light is abundant in this setting and the colors are blended to appear almost identical to the other paintings. These were paintings that Renoir was doing to cement his legacy in landscape and impressionist painting. The painting oozes a lot of prowess and masterly, with the characteristic heavy brushstrokes of the impressionist painting.

Renoir worked with Artists such as Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Fredric Bazille, in the impressionist painting. They were the pioneers of impressionist painting exhibitions after their paintings had been rejected by conventional painting exhibitions of the time.

All of them went on to become acclaimed artists whose work is held in high regard even to date. The had met in art school in Paris, where they studied under the guidance of Charles Gleyre. Across his painting endeavors, Renoir also borrowed a leaf from painters such as Camille Pissarro and Edouard Manet.

The impressionists picked up influences from the famous names of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The likes of Diego Velazquez and Francisco de Goya will have taught them valuable technical skills before they started to add their own creativity on top. Goya's beset known paintings were Third of May 1808, The Nude Maja and The Dog. Diego Velazquez gifted us with Las Meninas, Portrait of Pope Innocent X and Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress.

Renoir managed to complete a lot of paintings over his lifetime. Some of his paintings are the most famous and valuable in the world today. His paintings have influenced the careers of many painters across decades. Among his most popular paintings include: The Large Bathers - having had a lot of passion for painting feminine sensuality, this painting was one of Renoir many pieces of nude painting. The painting otherwise known as Les Grandes Baigneuses was done between the year 1884 and 1887. It features nude large-bodied women taking a bath. The models for the painting included his wife Aline Charigot and painter Suzanne Valadon. Renoir worked on this painting for three years to make it one of the greatest masterpieces of his painting career.