Claude Renoir

Distinguished, versatile French cinematographer Claude Renoir was best known for his lyrical use of color and lighting to create sensuous, moving, and unforgettable images. The grandson of French master Auguste Renoir, the son of character actor Pierre Renoir, and the nephew of highly regarded filmmaker Jean Renoir, with whom Claude frequently worked, Renoir learned his craft under the tutelage of lighting directors Christian Matras and Boris Kaufman. He later worked as chief photography director or co-cinematographer on some of his uncle's best films including Un Partie de Campagne (A Day in the Country) (1936). Renoir went on to work with many other notable directors including Satyajit Ray, Maurice Cloche, Roger Vadim, and Bertrand Blier. In the mid-'70s, Renoir began to lose his sight and before the decade's end had retired. In the mid-'80s, Renoir filmed one last film, the French documentary The Lovers of Teruel.

~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide