Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Love

Renoir’s joyful, discreet and tender vision, devoid of any hint of sentimentality, ribaldry or drama, distinguishes him from the other painters of his day.

The artist locates the interactions he depicts in his paintings in the public space, the new, modern social and natural settings - theaters, restaurants, guinguettes, boulevards and gardens - frequented by various social classes.

Theses popular "scenes" of modern love encouraged greater freedom of morals and the blossoming of "illicit" loves, in an era when bourgeois conventions and religious morality still governed romantic and sexual relationships.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | L'Estaque, 1885-1890

"L'Estaque" is an oil on canvas, 18 3/8 x 21 7/8 inches, by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), created in 1885-1890.

It is part of the collection of the Portland Museum of Art.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir passed through Provence on his return trip to France from Italy in January 1882, stopping at the fishing village of L'Estaque on the Mediterranean coast - close to Marseilles in the South of France, where Cézanne had painted regularly since the 1860s.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir | L'Estaque, 1885-1890 | Portland Museum of Art

Christopher Clark | Storyteller painter

Christopher Clark’s goal is to tell your story. His paintings resonate, showing you a world you’ve longed to live in, or recalling a memory from years past.

He specializes in painting light itself, which lends to this sense of belonging and captivation people experience in his paintings. Christopher is a licensed painter for Lucasfilm, Marvel, 20th Century Fox and Disney International, and is collected by George Lucas.

Damian Tirado, 1960: "Envie de chic?"

Damian Tirado is a Venezuelan painter and sculptor, currently living in France.

Passionate about drawing and painting, he entered the School of Fine arts Cristobal de Rojas in Caracas.

He began his career as a designer and make up artist in the world of fashion and theatre, and as an illustrator for several big brands, collaboration among others with fashion designer Guy Melliet.

Léon Perrault | Genre / Academic painter

Painter of genre, history, religion and portrait Léon-Jean-Bazile Perrault (1832-1908) stands in peril of not being remembered as distinctively as his successes might merit.

For our part, we may narrow this great artist’s claims at once by rejecting his religious painting, and we may be inclined to go on and deny him the title of historical painter, so that, although we shall have paintings of religious subjects and of historical subjects to consider, we shall in truth be considering them as work of a painter of genre and portrait.