Lecture Paints Portrait of Renoir's Battle with Arthritis

A famous painter at the age of 48 develops persistent and progressive

joint pain and inflammation. Living in excruciating pain – his hands

become twisted, the thumbs turning inward, toward his palms; he eventually

must use a wheelchair to get around – he nevertheless continues to paint

until the end of his life, 22 years later.

The artist? Pierre-August Renoir. The disease? Rheumatoid arthritis.

Renoir’s persistence and passion in the face of his arthritis is the topic

of a free lecture titled “”Renoir, His Art and His Arthritis”” given by

James S. Louie, MD, chief of the Division of Rheumatology at Harbor-UCLA

Medical Center, at 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 18, at Western University of

Health Sciences.

“”There were no effective therapies or surgeries at the time of his

diagnosis”” in 1890, Dr. Louie said. “”Yet Renoir persevered through his

pain and devised tools to help him paint. I challenge the audience to see

if they can see any difference in his work”” after the artist contracted

the arthritis, Dr. Louie said.

During the lecture, Dr. Louie shows slides of Renoir’s works, both before

and after he contracted the disease.

Dr. Louie will speak to Western University’s first- and second-year

students in the institution’s College of Osteopathic Medicine of the

Pacific at 4 p.m. A second lecture at 6 p.m. is open to the public. The

lecture will take place in Amphitheater II, 2nd Floor, Health Professions

Center, Western University of Health Sciences, 309 E. Second Street,

Pomona.

For more information, contact Western University’s Media Relations

Department at (909) 469-5389.