WPI Oral History: Sophie Renoir on Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Sophie Renoir is the great-granddaughter of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and a contemporary scholar and advocate for his work. Following in the footsteps of her family’s cinematic traditions—her father, cinematographer Claude Renoir, and uncle, director Jean Renoir—she is an acclaimed French film and television actress. Highlights from her oral history include discussions of childhood memories from the Renoir family home in Essoyes, responsibilities of maintaining a family’s artistic legacy, and ways she connects personally with Renoir’s paintings today. KEYWORDS: Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Impressionism, Impressionist art, Claude Renoir, Jean Renoir, Pierre Renoir, Essoyes, art museums, droit moral, Renoir Committee, La vague, La loge, Eric Rohmer, digital art history, catalogue raisonnés, classic cinema