Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Renoir workshop is located in Essoyes, in the Aube department in the Grand Est region (former Champagne-Ardenne). This place was the summer work of the painter Auguste Renoir between 1888 and 1919, during which time he made major works, inspired by rural life and local landscapes. The workshop, originally installed in his house purchased in 1896, was moved in 1906 to the back of the garden to preserve family tranquility. The property, labeled Maisons des Illustres, now houses sculptures, personal and written objects of the artist.

The village of Essoyes, the cradle of the wife of Auguste Renoir, Aline Charigot, became a creative refuge for the painter, far from Parisian agitation. Every summer, the family found themselves there, and Renoir painted scenes of everyday life, such as washers on the banks of the Ource, or portraits of his loved ones. His last son, Claude, was born there in 1901. The local cemetery houses the tombs of Renoir, his wife and three of their sons, marking their lasting attachment to this wine-growing territory.

The workshop and the house were restored in 1990 thanks to the Renoir association, founded in 1986 by Claude Renoir (grandson of the painter) and his wife Evangeline. In 2011, the cultural centre On the Renoir side opened in old stables of the castle, completing the museum trail with exhibitions dedicated to the family. In 2017, the family home, donated by Sophie Renoir (a great-granddaughter) to the municipality in 2013, was in turn open to the public, offering an immersion in the painter's privacy.

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