Portrait of Wagner [1882] From the memoirs of Jean Renoir, the artist’s son: “… The name of Lasku also belongs to the memories of Rue Saint-Georges,” “the judicial investigator, who drove himself into my head that would make me love Wagner. I must admit that at first he succeeded! “The father was all the more inclined to admire that false patriots fought against Wagner’s music. Renoir, usually so discreet, went to battle and even fights with opponents of the German composer.” This is silly, but useful.
Well from time to time get carried away with something unrelated to your own skate. “I don’t know in which of the Paris theaters this happened, but Renoir should have had a lot of fun.” The cylinder, this ridiculous headdress, turned out to be an excellent protection against cane blows, they were littered with all the aisles in the theater. “Later Lask introduced my father to Wagner. As a result, a famous portrait appeared and two or three sketches were made in one session, which lasted a quarter of an hour.
The composer could not devote more time to Renoir. It seems that the portrait was painted in Palermo, which coincides approximately with the end of the period of the workshop on Rue Saint-Georges. During this short time, Wagner was able to speak out about painting, “from which I was all ruffled! By the end of the session, the brilliance of his talent in my eyes had faded significantly. love only Jewish music… the music of German Jews! “
Renoir continued to write, but already angry, and began to praise Offenbach, “whom I adored, and Wagner himself acted on my nerves!” To my father’s great surprise, Wagner nodded in approval. “It is, of course,” small “music,” he said, “but not bad. If Offenbach were not Jewish, he would have become Mozart. When I speak of German Jews, I mean Meyerbeer!” Later, Renoir attended the presentation of the “Valkyries” in Bayreuth. “No one has the right to leave people in the dark for three hours in a row. This is called a breach of trust.” Renoir was against the unlighted theater halls. “You have to look at the only bright point – on the stage. This is violence! For example, I want to look at a pretty woman in the box. And – we will say it honestly:
(2 votes, average: 2.50 out of 5)