The Red Coat
Albert André
ALBERT ANDRE, 1913. OIL ON CANVAS.
Albert André is perhaps best remembered as Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s closest friend, and André was devoted to this friendship past Renoir’s death. Arriving in Paris in 1889 as an industrial designer, he began to study at the Academie Julien where he met the new class of French artists shaping the world around them. Yet he never formally joined a movement or integrated himself in the milieu until his paintings caught the eye of Renoir. Though much older than him, the two became friends quickly and Renoir served also as a mentor to the young André. When Renoir died, it was André who produced the most significant monograph and he who persevered above all else to cement his friend’s legacy. He saw in his mentor that which he struggled to find himself, a pure and true genius and he was devoted to the sharing of this. Yet André was a skilled painter in his own right, learning from Renoir but with a unique eye, his work stands alone, vibrant, moody and revelatory. He sacrificed recognition of his own in awe and admiration of his friend.