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Children Collection: Pierre-Auguste Renoir Oil Painting Reproductions

Showing 17–32 of 87 results

Pierre, Jean and Coco

Pierre was born in 1885, Jean in 1894, and Claude, always called Coco, in 1901 when Renoir was sixty. Jean became the film director; Coco became the most painted child of his father's late years, in a straw hat, in a white smock, drawing at a table, or simply asleep.

Because these were family pictures rather than commissions, they were painted without hurry and often left unfinished at the edges. The face is resolved and the background is a few strokes of warm colour, which is exactly the balance most people want on a wall.

Not a sentimental painter

It is worth saying plainly, because reproductions of these pictures are often used in a way that suggests otherwise. Renoir paints children as small solid people in strong light, not as decorative motifs. The cheeks are pink because light is falling on them, not because the picture is being sweet. That is why the good ones survive being lived with for years.

Which room this collection suits

Nurseries and children's rooms, obviously, but also family landings, kitchens and the wall beside a stair. Hang them low enough that a child can actually see them, which usually means lower than adult eye level. Forty to sixty centimetres is plenty; these are intimate pictures and enlarging them works against their character.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Coco?

Claude Renoir, born in 1901, the painter's third and youngest son. He appears in a great many of the late canvases, usually in a wide straw hat or a white smock, and is often named in the title.

Are these suitable for a child's room?

They are among the best choices for one. The subjects are children, the palette is warm, and the scale is naturally modest. Hang them at a child's eye level rather than an adult's.

Is Jean Renoir the film director in these pictures?

Yes. Jean, born in 1894, is the boy with long hair in several of the family portraits, and he went on to direct La Grande Illusion and La Regle du jeu.

What size and finish work best?

Forty to sixty centimetres, stretched or in a simple warm wood frame. In a child's room a stretched canvas with no glass and no hard frame edge is the practical choice as well as the good looking one.