Captain Edouard Bernier - Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Archival giclée
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Description
A 1871 portrait by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, depicting Captain Edouard Bernier with a focus on military detail and atmospheric lighting.
Painted in 1871, this portrait of Captain Edouard Bernier captures a moment of transition in the career of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. While Renoir is widely associated with the light-filled scenes of Impressionism, his early work demonstrates a firm grasp of traditional portraiture techniques. The subject, Captain Bernier, is depicted in his military uniform, complete with the medals and braiding that signify his rank and service.
Renoir employs a focused approach to the sitter, placing him against a loosely rendered, atmospheric background. The contrast between the sharp, metallic details of the uniform buttons and the softer, more gestural application of paint on the background demonstrates the artist's ability to balance precision with painterly freedom. The palette is dominated by dark, somber tones in the uniform, which serve to draw the viewer's attention to the captain's face and the subtle play of light across his features.
This work belongs to a period shortly after the Franco-Prussian War, a time when many artists were navigating the shift between academic traditions and the emerging modern style. Renoir manages to convey a sense of individual character through the sitter's direct gaze and posture, avoiding the rigid formality often found in military portraiture of the era. The brushwork, particularly in the treatment of the uniform's embroidery and the surrounding space, hints at the fluid technique that would define his later contributions to the Impressionist movement. This print offers a clear view of the textures and tonal variations present in the original oil painting, allowing for a close examination of Renoir's early mastery of light and form.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Captain Edouard Bernier - Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Artist Biography
Pierre Auguste Renoir
He met Monet, Sisley, and Bazille at Charles Gleyre's studio in the early 1860s. In 1869, he and Monet painted side by side at La Grenouillere, a bathing spot on the Seine, producing some of the earliest distinctly Impressionist work. They co-founded the first Impressionist exhibition in April 1874 with Pissarro and others. Of the group, Renoir was the one most drawn to people. His subjects are eating, dancing, talking, sitting in the sun, doing very little. The paint itself seems warm.
Luncheon of the Boating Party, painted in 1881, includes his future wife Aline Charigot as the woman on the left playing with a small dog. She was a dressmaker, twenty years his junior. They married in 1890. The model Suzanne Valadon, later a significant painter in her own right, posed for several of his works during this period.
Rheumatoid arthritis set in around 1892 and progressively crippled his hands. In 1907 he moved south to Cagnes-sur-Mer, near the Mediterranean, seeking warmer air. The commonly repeated story is that brushes were strapped to his paralysed fingers. The reality is more precise: he could still grip a brush, but an assistant had to place it in his permanently clenched hand. Bandages visible in late photographs prevented skin irritation rather than holding brushes in place. Film footage from 1915 shows the seventy-four-year-old painting at his easel while his fourteen-year-old son Claude arranged the palette and placed brushes in his hand.
He kept painting until the day he died, in December 1919, at seventy-eight.
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