Kyle Staver on Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Bathers, 1919, Oil on canvas, 24 x 43 inches
"I paint them until I want to Pinch their bottom." - Pierre-Auguste Renoir
A fat lot of good it would do if I told you that Titian's courtesans make you want to caress them. Some day you'll see the Titians for yourself, and if they have no effect on you, then you don't understand the first thing about painting. And I wouldn't be able to help you. Pierre-Auguste Renoir In this Late Renoir nothing comes between The Painting and Painter. It is astonishing how personal and uncomfortable it is. I heard a movie star talk about making a sex video with his girlfriend. When they watched it they were shocked at how unglamorous, uncomfortable and clumsy it was. He said he had a new respect for porn stars. They somehow managed to make sex look dainty, tidy and visually appealing. The tiding up is exactly what Renoir relinquishes in this painting. For me that is a miracle. Uncompromising and unprecedented.
Kyle Staver, Diane & Aceton, 2012, Oil on linen, 68 x 58 inches