When in EUROPE this month, I made a point to visit RENOIR'S house and studio in ESSOYES, FRANCE. This is my favorite photo - RENOIR'S paintbrushes in a ceramic pot on the windowsill of his home.
Oh my, what a wonderful, little town ESSOYES is. One can see why he choose this place to live. Well, actually his wife ALINE found the house........ (in her home town). They moved there 6 years after their 1890 marriage.
When you first enter the secured property of the residence and studio, you enjoy a short walk through their flower gardens (not in bloom yet in April). I can only imagine how beautiful this will be in full-bloom!
The garden path leads to his STUDIO.
OH!!, to stand in the same place where RENOIR painted!!!
There is a short, lovely walk to his house.
Inside the LIVING ROOM he apparently kept another STUDIO SPACE.
The other side of the LIVING ROOM is a comfortable place to visit with FAMILY and FRIENDS.
Some of RENOIR'S PENCIL SKETCHES are displayed in the HALLWAY. At first, I thought they had to be copies - but perhaps not - they were each under glass in a darkened room. EXCITING!!
The KITCHEN was quite interesting and huge - I totally enjoyed looking at all of the little details around the room.
And RENOIR'S BEDROOM upstairs..........
Right next door is his wife ALINE'S bedroom........
......which is right next door to an example of the BOYS' BEDROOMS.
I stole a final GLANCE out of the upstairs window to look back toward his STUDIO.
The CEMETERY is only 2 blocks away. What impressed me the most was how HUMBLE PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR'S headstone is in comparison to some of the more GRAND markers there.
TWO of their 3 BOYS (PIERRE, a stage and film actor and JEAN, a noted filmmaker, and Jean's wife, DIDO, an actress) are buried with AUGUSTE.
His wife ALINE, who was 20 years younger (they met when she was 20 and he was 40), died 4 years before AUGUSTE and is right behind him in the cemetery, buried with her mother and their third son (CLAUDE, a ceramic artist).
The RENOIR graves are in the middle of this next photo, recognizable by the green bust of AUGUSTE on his headstone and ALINE'S modest, cream-colored headstone behind his.
I'm thrilled to have had the opportunity to visit this MASTER ARTIST'S HOME and FINAL RESTING PLACE!
I feel compelled now to share some photos of their lovely town of ESSOYES, which will be in my next BLOG POST - So, So, SO CHARMING!!
I feel compelled now to share some photos of their lovely town of ESSOYES, which will be in my next BLOG POST - So, So, SO CHARMING!!
JOAN
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