Last home · Essoyes, Aube
Where is Auguste Renoir buried?
From Cagnes-sur-Mer to Nice, then from a first burial to the definitive return to Champagne: Renoir's tomb tells of a family choice, artistic and deeply linked to the village of Aline.
The answer in context
A modest grave in the village chosen by the family
Pierre-Auguste Renoir died on December 3, 1919 at the Domaine des Collettes, in Cagnes-sur-Mer. However, he is not permanently buried on the Côte d'Azur. After a first burial in the Château de Nice cemetery, his remains joined Essoyes in June 1922.
This return is not a geographical coincidence. Essoyes is the native village of Aline Charigot, wife and model of Renoir. The painter stayed there regularly with his family, bought a house there in 1896 and had a workshop built there in 1906. At the cemetery, his grave is next to that of Aline and several descendants.
The monument is therefore neither an isolated tomb nor a simple public tribute. It belongs to a family complex made up of two nearby tombs, where the careers of the painter, the actor Pierre Renoir, the filmmaker Jean Renoir and the ceramist Claude Renoir come together.
1915 - 1990
From Nice to Essoyes: the chronology of the burial
The cemetery was not built in a day. The successive burials and transfers transformed two neighboring tombs into family memories.
Aline Renoir dies in Nice. His death inspired the project of a funerary bust made with Richard Guino.
Renoir died in Les Collettes on December 3. He was first buried in the Château de Nice cemetery.
In June, the painter's remains were transferred to Essoyes. Guino's bronze bust crowns the tomb.
Pierre Renoir, eldest son of the painter and great French actor, joins the tomb.
Jean Renoir, filmmaker and writer, is in turn buried in Essoyes.
Dido Freire, Jean's second wife, completes the first family grave.
Who rests where?
Two burials, two branches of the same story
The names are not all gathered under the same monument. The arrangement of two neighboring tombs makes the history of the Renoir generations legible.
1
Tomb of the painter
Augustus, Peter, John and Dido
The monument visible in the foreground is crowned by the bust of Auguste Renoir. The medallions of Peter and John were added after their respective funerals.
2
Tomb of Aline and descendants
Aline, Thérèse, Claude and Claude junior
Placed just behind, the second burial was originally crowned by a bust of Aline created by Renoir and Richard Guino.
The tomb of Auguste Renoir and figures linked to theater and cinema.
The grave of Aline, her mother and Claude's branch.
A memory of painting extended by spectacle, film and ceramics.
Sculpture and memory
Why a bust of Richard Guino on the grave?
From 1913, Renoir worked on sculpture with Richard Guino, a young artist recommended by Aristide Maillol. The painter's hands are almost paralyzed by rheumatism: Renoir designs, directs and corrects, while Guino models the material.
The bust of Aline was born in 1916, a year after her death, from a portrait painted around thirty years earlier. A bronze print is intended for his grave. The bust of Renoir which dominates the neighboring tomb is also associated with Guino and makes sculpture a central element of family memory.
The cemetery thus offers an unexpected echo at the end of the painter's career. Monuments do not only reproduce faces: they materialize an artistic collaboration today recognized as true co-creation.
Reciprocal adoption
Why did Renoir choose Essoyes?
Because the village sums up an essential part of her life: Aline, the family, the house, the workshop, the models and the landscapes of Ource.
The landscape experienced
Essoyes is not a decor: it is a home
Every summer, Renoir finds a simpler scale of life, familiar models and the motifs of a rural Champagne.
1906
The Garden Workshop
The Ource
The Washer River
Aline took Renoir to her native village in the mid-1880s. Seduced by the countryside and local life, he returned there for almost thirty years. The house purchased in 1896 is his first property. Claude, his third son, was born there in 1901; the workshop was built five years later at the end of the garden.
Choosing Essoyes as your final resting place therefore amounts to joining a family territory as much as a place of painting. The cemetery completes a route which begins on the banks of the Ource, crosses the streets of the village, the house and the workshop, then brings together several generations in the same landscape.
A creative dynasty
Family memory goes beyond painting alone
The names inscribed on the stones tell of four different ways of extending an artistic sensitivity.
Augustus
Painting and sculptureThe father installed a work of landscapes, figures and family scenes in Essoyes which became the center of the story.
Peter
Theater and CinemaThe eldest son becomes an actor and theater administrator. His medallion takes place under his father's bust.
John
Cinema and writingThe director of The Great Illusion and of The Rules of the Game transforms the painter's gaze into the language of the film.
Claude
Ceramics and transmissionNicknamed Coco and often portrayed as a child, he became a ceramist and contributed to the inventory of his father's work.
In the footsteps of the Renoirs
How to integrate the cemetery into a visit to Essoyes?
The best journey connects places of life to places of memory, in this order: understanding, inhabiting, creating, then collecting oneself.
The cultural center
Start at Place de la Mairie to place Aline, the children and the village in the general history of the Renoirs.
The House and Workshop
The 1896 residence and the 1906 workshop show daily life and the concrete conditions of creation.
The cemetery
Finish in front of the two tombs. Look first at their layout, then at the bust and medallions.
Essoyes in painting
Six works to find the village of Renoir
Houses, farms, gardens and morning lights show why this family landscape has become an enduring artistic motif.
Landscape in Essoyes
The relief, the houses and the vegetation in a broad vision.
Essoyes early in the morning
A fresh atmosphere where color precedes detail.
Houses with red roofs
The narrow village becomes a mosaic of colorful plans.
The Essoyes Farm
Daily architecture integrated into the Champagne landscape.
Spring in Essoyes
The resurgent countryside in clear and light harmony.
Near Essoyes
The gaze leaves the streets to follow the curves of the territory.
Renoir in Essoyes
House, workshop, village and family memory.
Related articleRenoir's children
Pierre, Jean, Claude and the painter's legacies.
Related articleRenoir and sculpture
Richard Guino, busts and the end of his career.
CollectionPierre-Auguste Renoir
Discover portraits, landscapes, family and bathing scenes.
Reference sources
To deepen
Frequently asked questions
Renoir's tomb in eight answers
Where is Auguste Renoir buried?
Auguste Renoir rests in the municipal cemetery of Essoyes, in the Aube department, in Champagne.
Was Renoir always buried in Essoyes?
No. Died in Cagnes-sur-Mer in 1919, he was first buried in the Château de Nice cemetery. His remains were transferred to Essoyes in June 1922.
Why did Renoir choose Essoyes?
Essoyes is the native village of his wife Aline Charigot. The family stayed there for almost thirty years, owned a house and a workshop, and developed deep emotional ties.
Who rests in the same grave as Auguste Renoir?
The first burial brings together Auguste Renoir, his sons Pierre and Jean, as well as Dido Freire, Jean's second wife.
Where does Aline Renoir rest?
Aline rests in a second nearby grave, with her mother Thérèse Émilie Maire, her son Claude dit Coco and her grandson Claude Renoir junior.
Who made the bust placed on Renoir's grave?
The bronze bust which crowns the tomb is the work of Richard Guino, sculptor and collaborator of Renoir.
What do the medallions on the tomb represent?
They represent Pierre Renoir, actor, and Jean Renoir, filmmaker. They were added after their respective funerals in 1952 and 1979.
Can we visit the Renoir tomb and places in Essoyes?
The cemetery is part of the village memorial trail. The house, workshop and cultural center can be visited during seasonal times to check on the official Du Côté des Renoir website.
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