Painter Pierre Auguste Renoir; Making His Mark: His dedication, innovation made an impression on art world.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)

Byline: J. BONASIA

There were repeated setbacks. Public indifference. Critical laughter. Yet Pierre Auguste Renoir never gave up on himself.

Renoir (1841-1919) toiled in poverty for 30 years before achieving a degree of critical and financial success as a painter. It wasn't until he was 50 that he finally earned some fame for his breakthrough Impressionist style. By then, his arms and legs had been stricken with severe rheumatoid arthritis.

Rather than give up, Renoir adjusted his painting technique to reduce the pain. He kept his strokes shorter and experimented with up, down and side-to-side motions to find the most comfortable ones. All the while, he continued to develop as an artist. As Renoir once wrote to an art patron, "One must from time to time attempt things that are beyond one's capacity."

Today Renoir's still cherished for his rich, sensuous canvases that burst with bright colors.

He was extremely creative, says Barbara Ehrlich White, professor of art history at Tufts University and author of the definitive biography, "Renoir: His Life, Art and Letters."

"What led to Renoir's success was primarily his pictorial genius," said Ehrlich White. "That, and the fact that he remained a very persevering person."