Float through any social event with M's fast facts. This week Jasper Rees looks at the life and times of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the French Impressionist born on this day in 1841.
THE BASICS, PART ONE Pierre-Auguste Renoir is one of the founding fathers of Impressionism, the artistic movement that has become synonymous with soft and seemingly unchallenging images of natural beauty, never more than in the case of Renoir's images of pretty blondes and flowers bursting with colour. No impression could be further from the truth. The huge popularity of the movement tends to obscure its revolutionary origins.
THE BASICS, PART TWO The Impressionist movement acquired its name accidentally in a sardonic, disapproving review by a Parisian critic attending the first independent exhibition in 1874 featuring a group of artists that included Renoir, Monet, Cézanne, Sisley and Pissarro. The movement was created to break the cartel run by the Salon des Arts, which, at the expense of landscapes and still lifes, extended all its patronage to artists painting historical and religious subjects in an established style.
THE WORKING-CLASS HERO Renoir's background was modest. He was born in Limoges, the home of French porcelain, and was soon working in the town's factory, creating designs for fine china. At 21 he made it to Paris to study, where he met Monet and Sisley. His early career was thwarted by poverty - he sometimes could not afford to buy paints - but also by the outbreak in 1870 of the Franco-Prussian war, which resulted in artists fleeing Paris for London or the south of France.
THE INFLUENCES Though the Impressionists broke with the past, it's a mistake to say Renoir's work did not stand on the shoulders of earlier artists. He admired the classical landscapes of Corot and Delacroix, and fell under the sway of more immediate predecessors such as Courbet and Manet, whose Le déjeuner sur L'Herbe (1863) is usually seen as the first Impressionist masterpiece.
THE RISE TO FAME Few of Renoir's works from before 1874 resonate into the present, but he was practising the key precepts of Impressionism: painting outdoors, and letting light and shade reveal themselves in a rich colour palette. Fired by the spirit of experiment and discovery, he and Monet often painted the same scenes together.
THE MASTERWORKS Renoir carved out a highly distinctive signature: crowded canvases such as Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876) were cheerful vignettes that captured the bustling street life of Paris, while sweet portraits put ordinary Parisians in the best possible light.
THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION Renoir was not a career Impressionist. A trip to Italy in 1881 found him deviating towards a more austere classical style largely confined to drawing. "I had wrung impressionism dry," he wrote, "and I finally came to the conclusion that I knew neither how to paint [nor] draw." Another volte-face in 1890 brought an explosion of what are now seen as his trademark qualities: the colour flooding his portraits of wealthier patrons, and the Rubensesque rolls of flesh in his nudes.
THE RECORD By the time he died on the Côte d'Azur in 1919 at the age of 78 he had left thousands of canvases. His most expensive work is the smaller of two versions of Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette, which was sold at auction for more than US$78 million (Dh287mn) in 1990.
THE FAMILY He wasn't the only Renoir to make a name for himself. His older son, Pierre, became a respected actor, most famously in Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), but his younger son, Jean, had the more distinguished career as the director of early cinema classics such as La Grande Illusion (1937) and La Règle du Jeu (1939).
THE DISSENTING OPINION The chocolate-box paintings of cute kids with peachy cheeks can give you tooth rot - and give the Impressionists a bad name.
The four most famous creations
DANCE AT LE MOULIN DE LA GALETTE (1876) A classic Impressionist image captures ordinary Parisians dancing, drinking and eating galettes in holiday mode, flouting the stilted conventions of the Salon des Arts. It is housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY (1881) The Seine was an Impressionist staple, here evoked in shimmering effects in which solid forms and their reflections dissolve in light. It is at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.
GIRL WITH A HOOP (1885) Renoir's crisper style - he called it "aigre," or "sour" - after an influential trip to Italy in 1881 is evident in a sharp-eyed portrait of a 9-year-old Marie Goujon. It is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
LES GRANDES BAIGNEUSES (1887) The most iconic of Renoir's monumental nudes betrays the influence of his Italian journey six years earlier and his return to classicism. It is at the Philadelphia Musem of Art in the US. His model, Suzanne Valadon, also posed for several other painters while studying their techniques and became a leading artist herself.
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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'Brazen'
Director: Monika Mitchell
Starring: Alyssa Milano, Sam Page, Colleen Wheeler
Rating: 3/5
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
SPECS
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The flights: South African Airways flies from Dubai International Airport with a stop in Johannesburg, with prices starting from around Dh4,000 return. Emirates can get you there with a stop in Lusaka from around Dh4,600 return.
The details: Visas are available for 247 Zambian kwacha or US$20 (Dh73) per person on arrival at Livingstone Airport. Single entry into Victoria Falls for international visitors costs 371 kwacha or $30 (Dh110). Microlight flights are available through Batoka Sky, with 15-minute flights costing 2,265 kwacha (Dh680).
Accommodation: The Royal Livingstone Victoria Falls Hotel by Anantara is an ideal place to stay, within walking distance of the falls and right on the Zambezi River. Rooms here start from 6,635 kwacha (Dh2,398) per night, including breakfast, taxes and Wi-Fi. Water arrivals cost from 587 kwacha (Dh212) per person.
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Abu Dhabi card
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
The National selections:
5pm: Valcartier
5.30pm: AF Taraha
6pm: Dhafra
6.30pm: Maqam
7pm: AF Mekhbat
7.30pm: Ezz Al Rawasi
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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