How does this artwork elucidate its Background?
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) first met landscape painters Alfred Sisley (1839–1899), Claude Monet (1840–1926), and figure painter Frédéric Bazille (1841–1870) at the art studio of Swiss artist Charles Gleyre in 1861.  In addition to their friendship, all would prove influential in Renoir's work. For the next several years, Renoir attended the École des Beaux-Arts.  He first exhibited a large painting at the Salon in 1863, but destroyed his work. That same year, Renoir was living in a studio with Bazille who introduced him to Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) and Camille Pissarro (1830–1903).
An early painting, The Cabaret of Mère Anthony (1866), represents for Renoir "some of the most agreeable memories" of his life with friends at a village inn during this time.  He soon moved to the village of Chailly near Marlotte and the forest of Fontainebleau, and began working with model Lise Tréhot who posed for him between 1866 and 1872. Renoir began painting at La Grenouillère, a popular middle class day resort with a floating dance hall, in late 1868.  Like Monet and several other Impressionists, Renoir worked en plein air, painting outdoors, but unlike Monet, who was known for painting in the cold and snow, Renoir was not fond of cold temperatures.  Years later, he told art dealer Ambroise Vollard that he could not stand the cold: "But then, even if you can stand the cold, why paint snow?  It is a blight on the face of Nature." Although it is unknown when his symptoms began, Renoir was known to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis from at least 1892 onward, an affliction which would severely restrict his artistic production in late life.
Lise Tréhot forest of Fontainebleau art studio École des Beaux-Arts Marlotte Frédéric Bazille en plein air Camille Pissarro Salon La Grenouillère Charles Gleyre Alfred Sisley Pierre-Auguste Renoir rheumatoid arthritis Claude Monet Ambroise Vollard Paul Cézanne