Nature's Workshop : Renoir's Writings on the

This book shows Auguste Renoir in an entirely new light, revealing an artist far more complex and thoughtful than previously believed. Seven unknown and unpublished texts written by Renoir, along with four other writings once published but now largely forgotten, are presented here in both French and English. They identify Renoir as an impassioned critic of architecture, architectural decoration, and the education of artists.

These surprising texts were written in 1883-84, when Renoir hoped to found an exhibition society grouping all the crafts, and around 1910, when he prepared several drafts of a preface to a French translation of Cennino Cennini's medieval treatise on the arts. Robert L. Herbert has uncovered Renoir's "Grammar of Art", long believed lost, and has disproved the idea that his reading of Cennini was related to his trip to Italy in 1881. Renoir provides a walking tour of Paris with abundant references to specific buildings exhibiting the Second Empire architecture he found so despicable. He examines academic art, modern industry, and how togeth

Robert L. Herbert, after a long career at Yale University, is now Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emeritus of Humanities at Mount Holyoke College.

Acknowledgments

ix

Preface

xi

Author's Note

xv

Renoir's Writings, 1877--1884

1

(24)

Renoir, Ruskin, Morris, and the Arts and Crafts in France

25

(16)

Renoir and Cennino Cennini in 1910

41

(22)

The ``Decorative'' in Renoir's Paintings

63

(26)

APPENDICES IN ENGLISH

89

(104)

A Note on Presentation

91

(2)

A Letter to L'Impressionniste, April 14, 1877

93

(2)

B Letter to L'Impressionniste, April 21, 1877

95

(7)

Introduction to Appendices C, E, and F

100

(2)

C Draft, 1882--1884

102

(6)

D The ``Societe des Irregularistes,'' May 1884

108

(3)

E Notes, 1883--1884

111

(11)

F Grammar, 1883--1884

122

(32)

G Statement of 1904

154

(4)

Introduction to Appendices H, I, J, and K

155

(3)

H Long Draft for the Cennini Preface, 1910

158

(22)

I Draft sent to L'Occident for the Cennini Preface, 1910

180

(2)

J Short Draft for the Published Preface to Mottez's Cennini, 1910

182

(3)

K Renoir's Published Letter to Henry Mottez, 1910

185

(8)

APPENDICES IN FRENCH

193

(68)

Bibliography

261

(4)

Index to the Text

265

(7)

Index to the Appendices

272

(4)

List of Illustrations

276

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Nature's Workshop : Renoir's Writings on the Decorative Arts

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials