Pierre-Auguste Renoir once wrote to a friend, "Although we don't eat every day, I'm still quite cheerful." Like many painters, Renoir was always happy with a paintbrush in his hand. He was a productive Impressionist artist, creating more than 7,000 paintings, drawings, and sculptures during his lifetime. He had no interest in fame, just in painting beautiful pictures. "Why shouldn't art be pretty?" he asked. "There are enough unpleasant things in the world."