ART has no boundaries of time and space and Jacques Renoir’s exhibition at the Shanghai Exhibition Center demonstrates just that.

The exhibition, “A Life for Painting,” features a cluster of canvas created by Pierre August Renoir, his great grandfather, together with photographs captured by Jacques.

Jacques Renoir was born in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France in 1942 and continues to live there. He graduated from the National School of Photography and Cinema Louis Lumière in Paris, and later assisted some of the great names of cinema such as Roger Vadim, Claude Sautet and Pierre Granier Deferre.

Clad in a semi-casual brown suit with a pair of glasses, he exudes the famed French elegance. He says he is interested in “capturing anything or any man” in his camera.

This is the second visit by the Frenchman to China. He was in Beijing 38 years before in 1977.

Asked why he did not follow the career path as an oil painter like his famous great grandfather, Jacques Renoir has a quick answer: “it is too difficult.” Besides, he says, if “August Renoir was born 10 or 20 years later, he could have become a photographer or even a film director due to the development of technology.”

Different from the canvas created by August Renoir, the pictures in Jacques’ lens are quite powerful and profound. The exhibition displays a series of his photographs titled “Olives Trees of Renoir” in 2005.

Jacques Renoir captures the relationships between the shape of the trunk and the landscapes nearby in black-and-white. Sometimes he concentrates his gaze on the tortured outgrowths of the trees, making the image almost abstract. In another picture, Jacques Renoir takes exactly the same point of view as in some of the paintings of Pierre-Auguste Renoir: the Olive trees in the foreground and the village of Cagnes in the background as a fantasy citadel.

The artist took time to share some of his views with Shanghai Daily.

Q: What was your impression of China when you first came to Beijing in 1977?

A: I was a photographer working for a French newspaper. Some of us were invited by Kim II-sung to visit Pyongyang in North Korea. We needed to transfer by train in Beijing to go there, so it was a very short stay. My first impression was people were all dressed in grey and blue. When I picked up my camera, I found I was already surrounded by a group of Chinese, as they were curious to see foreigners at that time. But now I am amazed at the “Chinese speed” — yesterday I saw nothing was prepared for the opening, but today everything is ready and in order.

Q: Are some of your pictures influenced by your great grandfather?

A: I was born in Les Collettes and spent my childhood there, playing in the garden and climbing Olive trees. I think my passion and love toward my surroundings was similar to what my great grandfather had experienced. We took the same angle to see the scenery around us in this big mansion. Although today the mansion is a museum, yet I grew up among the paintings created by my great grandfather, which unwittingly must have influenced me.

Q: You wrote a book about Pierre August Renoir, though you never met him. What made you want to write this book?

A: This book is about the life of Pierre August Renoir in his late years in this mansion. I adopted some literature writing technique, but all of them are based on facts. It took me many years to make an outline of the story, but it was written in a short time by me. The book was published in 2003, and a movie based on the book was made in 2012. I am not sure whether the movie has been screened in China. I hope that one day this book could be translated into Chinese for the readers here in China.

Q: I remember that your pictures were shown at the Lianzhou Photographic Festival in China, and the subject was related to female nudes.

A: Some of the pictures are also here in this exhibition. “Nudes at the Olive Trees” reflects the relationships between the velvety nature of the skin as opposed to the roughness of the bark, the feminine curves of the body and the more masculine curves of the tree. In some images, the Olive tree is almost embracing the woman, as if it wanted to take her in its arms. In fact, there is a story about the olive trees. Why did the Renoir family buy this mansion? The real estate developers had a big plan about the mansion so they wanted to chop the olive trees, but my great grandmother insisted that the pre-requisite to purchase this mansion was to keep these olive trees. So there are many olive trees in this mansion.

Q: The later generations of Pierre August Renoir chose to be a film director, ceramist and photographer, and it seemed that no one tried their hand in oil painting, why?

A: In my eyes, the creation of my great grandfather was restricted to the technology. He could have been a good photographer or even a film director with the emergence of new technology.

Q: Pierre August Renoir died nearly a century ago, what is his status in France today?

A: He, as an oil painter, never created a piece of controversial work. What he reflected was the beauty of the scenery and figures. My great grandfather once said “Artworks should render a pleasant feel to the viewers.” He liked to paint the family members, which also revealed a family tradition.

France and China both respect art and culture, and I appreciate the Chinese art and culture. But it was impossible to have such an exhibition here 20 or 30 years ago, as there is a picture of nudity.

Q: What’s your favorite piece among all Renoir’s work?

A: My favorite works are the family members painted by Renoir. Although these paintings are small and not well-known, yet they have their emotional link with me.

When mentioning about his well-known paintings, I prefer “Le Moulin de la Galette” (“Dance at Le moulin de la Galette”) and “Le Dejeuner des Canotiers” (“Luncheon of The Boating Part”).

These two paintings are similar to a film scene. Each character in the painting is a role, narrating his story.

Q: Today how many Renoir’s paintings are owned by the Renoir family?

A: Not many, as each time when inheritance occurred, the French government would take away some of the paintings. For example, if I have 10 Renoir’s paintings, then the next generation can’t inherit the 10 paintings as a whole. This is related to the laws, like the inheritance taxes. Also the Renoir’s family has donated many Renoir’s paintings to big museums around the world.

Q: What is the percentage of Renoir’s paintings at museums and in the hands of private collectors?

A: First, I think that it is not good that all Renoir’s paintings are kept with Renoir’s family. If the works are all owned by the private collectors, then today we could not have seen this exhibition now ongoing at Shanghai Exhibition Center. Art is to be shared. I am glad that many Renoir’s masterpieces are now showcased at the top museums around the world that can be seen by ordinary people. Today there are about 4,500 to 5,000 Renoir paintings, and 80 percent of them are in the museums.

Q: Your great grandfather was known for his colorful tableau with light and shade, but you prefer the black-and-white pictures. Why?

A: Black-and-white pictures are striking contrast. In my eyes, female nudity is akin to a bronze sculpture, and the black-and-white hue perfectly distinguishes it. Actually, I like to create something from the abandoned items. For example, I often go to the waste disposal field and trash dump to capture. I wanted to “dig out” the beauty from the waste.

• ‘A Life for Painting’

Date: Through March 6, 2016

Tickets: 100 yuan (weekdays), 120 yuan (weekends)

Venue: Shanghai Exhibition Center

Address: 1000 Yan’an Rd M.