Later years
Pierre-Auguste Renoir self-portrait
In about 1870 Renoir was called up to the Franco-Prussian war. He was in charge of training horses in the Pyrenees, which was very far away from the action, but one of his friends Frederic Bazille wasn't so lucky, and was killed in battle. In 1871 Renoir went back to Paris and moved into a bigger studio. In 1892 Renoir got rheumatoid arthritis which made painting much more challenging. He painted during the last twenty years of his life, even though he had become wheelchair-bound, and his arthritis was bad. On December 3 1919 he died at Cagnes.