Welcome to THE EVERYDAY LIVES OF THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONISTS. I am the author of CLAUDE and CAMILLE: A NOVEL OF MONET, the story of the young Claude Monet in his struggling years and his passionate love for his elusive muse Camille. The Boston Globe called it, "AN ENTHRALLING STORY, BEAUTIFULLY TOLD." This blog shares stories about him, his world, and his fellow impressionists, most of which you never knew. Come visit! People who love Impressionism have visited from all around the world.
Monday, November 9, 2009
the impressionists as parents: Renoir
Auguste Renoir was in his fifties and his wife Aline much younger when their son Jean was born.
Jean wrote, "I was a spoilt child. My family enclosed me in a protective wall softly padded on the inside. Beyond this wall, impressive persons came and went. I would have liked to join them and be impressive myself...when I discerned a breach in the wall, I uttered cries of alarm. My father loved to paint my hair...I did not look at my father's pictures, but I was aware of them." Later Jean was sent to boarding school which he hated, and from which he regularly ran away.
The picture is Jean drawing, created by the famous father and the quote is from My Life and My Films by Jean Renoir. Many years later, the little golden-haired Jean would become one of the great French filmmakers.
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I never made the connection that Jean Renoir was the son of the painter. His Beauty and the Beast is quite something. Didn't he do The River too? Set in India.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to this novel. I hope to go to Giverny one of these days. I studied in VIchy and Clermont-Ferrand a life time ago.
Yes, he did film The River. You may not get this, so I will also write you on Twitter! Thanks for visiting the website!
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