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Rheumatoid arthritis twisted Pierre-Auguste Renoir's hands so badly that he could no longer grip a brush. He kept painting for about twenty more years, with brushes placed between his bandaged fingers.

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Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease in which the immune system attacks the joints, causing pain and, over time, deformity. Renoir's began around 1892. By his sixties his joints had stiffened and twisted, and in his last years he used a wheelchair. In 1907 he moved to Les Collettes, a house at Cagnes-sur-Mer on the warm Mediterranean coast. Assistants wrapped his hands to protect the skin and set a brush between his fingers, and he painted by moving his arm and shoulder. From 1913 he also made sculpture by directing the hands of a young sculptor, Richard Guino. Asked why he kept painting through the pain, he is said to have replied that the pain passes, but the beauty remains.

Türkçe oku
Romatoid artrit, Pierre-Auguste Renoir'ın ellerini fırçayı kavrayamayacağı kadar çarpıttı. Renoir yaklaşık yirmi yıl daha resim yapmayı sürdürdü; fırçalar sargılı parmaklarının arasına yerleştiriliyordu.

Romatoid artrit, bağışıklık sisteminin eklemlere saldırdığı, ağrıya ve zamanla şekil bozukluğuna yol açan bir hastalıktır. Renoir'da 1892 dolaylarında başladı. Altmışlı yaşlarına geldiğinde eklemleri kaskatı kesilip eğrilmişti; son yıllarında tekerlekli sandalye kullandı. 1907'de Akdeniz kıyısındaki Cagnes-sur-Mer'de Les Collettes adlı eve taşındı. Asistanları derisini korumak için ellerini sarıyor, fırçayı parmaklarının arasına yerleştiriyordu; o da kolunu ve omzunu oynatarak resim yapıyordu. 1913'ten itibaren genç heykeltıraş Richard Guino'nun ellerini yönlendirerek heykel de yaptı. Acıya rağmen neden resim yapmayı sürdürdüğü sorulduğunda, “Acı geçer, güzellik kalır” dediği anlatılır.

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Background reading: Pierre-Auguste Renoir
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