“Renoir's particular ambition was to paint works with joyful colors from which every trace of narrative is excluded” 1, quotes Jean LeyMarie author of Renoir; And no truer words can be said about Renoir's work. Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French painter whose collaborations with other major artists, including Manet, Delacroix, and Monet 2, helped influence and shape the nascent Impressionist movement. The famous painter began his humble education in Limoges, France in 1841; The son of a tailor, his parents found him working for a porcelain decorator, which was the beginning of his long career as an artist, and perhaps it was here that his passion for translucent and succulent colors was established 3. While Renoir is well known for his paintings of women, couples and various other human subjects, his work on flowers is equally impressive. The work we will talk about in this essay is the painting Chrysanthemums, painted in 1881-82. Currently located in the Ryerson Collection in Gallery 201 of the Art Institute of Chicago. Chrysanthemums was painted in the middle years of Renoir's career. It is a vibrant depiction of a vase of chrysanthemums in a vase on a table, with a simple yet touching background. Although today in France chrysanthemums can symbolize mourning and death 4, Renoir's representation is that of a lush plant, teeming with life and activity. Renoir employs a colder palate in this work; Blue greens and cool reds are used to create shadows, depth and contrast to the painting which helps to engage the viewer. The flowers sit snugly in a vase on what appears to be a patterned white tablecloth draped loosely over a small circular table. This painting is a great example of Renoir's artistic style; Its favor is... in the center of the card... use the depth to sink the vase in the back and explode the flowers in the foreground. Use outline hatching on the vase, it's obvious the way the vase bends by the way the strokes wrap around. The flowers and vase are clearly placed on the table. Renoir paints the shadows cast on the table by the flowers and also uses shadows cast on the red background to create a scene with believable depth on a flat surface. The use of shadows is particularly evident in the flowers themselves, the bright blue indicating deeper, darker parts in the leafy stems.Works Cited(1) “Jean LeyMarie”, RenoirPage 6 LeyMariePage 4 LeyMarie http://blog.couleurnature.com / the-flower-of-death/ Page 689 Gardner'sGardner's 694 http://www.theartstory.org/movement-impressionism.htm 11 John House, Renoir12“”House, Renoir 12House 65 The PromenadeHouse 64)(LeyMarie 4)