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Renoir and Friends

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Opening this fall on October 7, The Phillips Collection presents an exceptional exhibition inspired by the museum’s celebrated Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880–81) by Pierre Auguste Renoir. Comprised of more than 40 carefully chosen works from private and public collections around the world, Renoir and Friends: Luncheon of the Boating Party explores the process by which the artist created his masterwork, while also recounting and illustrating stories of the diverse circle of friends who inspired it.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1880–81.  Oil on canvas, 51 1/4 x 69 1/8 in.  The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, Acquired 1923
  • Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1880–81. Oil on canvas, 51 1/4 x 69 1/8 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, Acquired 1923

“As the Phillips draws closer to our centennial year, it is a very fitting time to shed new light on one of the gems of our permanent collection,” said Phillips Director Dorothy Kosinski. “I am delighted that Renoir’s masterwork will be displayed alongside numerous other works by the artist and his contemporaries, helping further contextualize this remarkable painting.”

Recognized today as one of the greatest achievements of the artist’s career, the work is a marvel of plein-air painting on a grand scale. While no known preparatory studies exist for this masterwork, the years before Renoir completed Luncheon of the Boating Party were marked by encounters with riverside locations along the Seine west of Paris and with specific individuals who helped him realize his ambitious undertaking. No other large-scale painting by Renoir with the exception of the  

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Dance at the Moulin de la Galette (1876) comprises as many figures as Luncheon of the Boating Party. While never intended as a group portrait, the 14 individuals depicted in the painting appear nonetheless highly individualized and based on specific people in Renoir’s life.

“Luncheon of the Boating Party represents so much more than a diverse group of friends having a lovely time,” said Phillips Chief Curator Emerita, and project director, Eliza Rathbone. “Much has been written about Renoir and his work. Our project seeks to separate fact from fiction and to uncover as much specific detail and evidence as possible in order to bring to life this group of journalists, critics, models, collectors, and world travelers. By looking closely at these individuals who inspired Renoir, we find ourselves in a fascinating backstory that sheds light not only on this great enterprise and its models but on the artist himself.”

A room in the exhibition dedicated to research on the masterwork will feature an in-gallery interactive that uses findings from x-radiographic and infrared images and paint cross-sections. 

“Drawing upon a recent technical study on Luncheon of the Boating Party, I am excited to share new discoveries made about the painting,” said Phillips Head of Conservation Elizabeth Steele. “Inspection of the surface in raking light compared to the same passages in x-radiographic and infrared images reveal numerous changes that the artist made while completing the painting, and scientific analysis of the paint layers further illuminates these revisions. Through richly illustrated text panels and a groundbreaking in-gallery interactive, visitors will for the first time be able to track Renoir’s development of the composition on their own.”

 GETTING TO KNOW THE BOATING PARTY  

While never intended as a group portrait, the individuals depic ted in the  painting appear nonetheless highly individualized and based on  specific  people in Renoir’s life. Figures seen in  Luncheon of the Boating Party who  were especially influential during Renoir’s career include his  wife and  frequent muse Aline Charigot, artist and boating enthusiast Gustave  Caillebotte, and art critic and  collector Charles Ephrussi.  

Displayed alongside the famed masterpiece will be rare and iconic works by  the artist and his contemporaries that offer insight into Renoir’s fascinating  group of friends. Aline Charigot appears in important works that include  

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  The Dance in the Country , 1883. Oil on canvas, 70 7/8 x 35 7/16 in. Musée d'Orsay, Paris / Bridgeman Images 

Dance in the Country (1883) from the Musée d'Orsay 

as well as loans from the Rhode  Island School of  Design Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Philadelphia Museum of Art; among others. A rich  spectrum of works by Renoir’s close friend Gustave Caillebotte will also be on v iew. 

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Gustave Caillebotte, A Man Docking His Skiff , 1878. Oil on canvas, 29 x 36 1/2 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Collection  of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon. Photo: Katherine Wetzel © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 


Highlights include  Gustave Caillebotte A Man  Docking His Skiff (1878) from the Virginia Museum of Fine  Arts,  and


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The Yellow Boat (1891) from the Norton Simon  Museum,

and rarely seen loan s from private collections. 

The stories of Renoir’s models will also be told through photographs, prints, drawings,  and even a small selection  of hats, on loan from the Museum of the City of New York,  similar to those worn by the individuals depicted.  

Just as Phillips imagined it would be when he bought the painting in 1923,  Luncheon of the Boating Party by Renoir remains the best known and most popular work of art at The Phillips Collection. The painting  captures an idyllic atmosphere of friends sharing food, wine, and conversation on a balcony overlooking  the Seine at the Maison Fournaise restaurant in Chatou. Parisians flocked to the Maison Fournaise to rent rowing skiffs, eat a good meal, or stay the night. The painting also reflects the changing character of French society in the mid‐to late 19th century. The restaurant welcomed customers of many classes, including businessmen, society women, artists, actresses, writers, critics, seamstresses, and shop girls. This diverse group embodied a new, modern  Parisian society.  


 Renoir and Women Models  

Renoir celebrated not only natural female beauty but also a wom n’s attire and the way in which the line of a dress or shape of a hat could flatter her appearance. The son of a tailor and a dressmaker, he naturally came by this appreciation for line, texture, and style. Friends and mistresses would pose for him as a favor, but he also hired models in Montmartre. His friend Georges Rivière described how Renoir diplomatically persuaded certain young women to model for him by charming their mothers,

Among  those who appear in Renoir’s work numerous times in the late 18 70s and early 1880s were three  actresses—Ellen Andrée, Angèle (who also made a living as a florist), and Jeanne Samary—as well as Alphonsine Fournaise, daughter of the owner of the Maison Fourn aise, whom he often saw at her  father’s establishment in Chatou. 

In his desire to paint scenes from contemporary life, Renoir preferred  to depict individuals in their familiar surroundings. 

Aline Charigot  

Aline Charigot spent her childhood in the village of Essoyes, but came to Paris to join her mother in 1874, and lived not far from Renoir ’s studio on rue Saint Georges. She probably met Renoir in 1879, when she was 20 years old. She was younger than Renoir by 18years, entering his life as he was beginning to receive the recog nition and commissions necessary to stabilize his ca eer. In 1885 they had  their first child, and in 1890 they were married. They had three sons: Pierre, Jean, and Claude. According  to Jean’s descriptions of his mother, she was the ideal partner for his father: a generous companion who never lost her love of the countryside, and when they acquired their property in Cagnes, was ready to roll up her sleeves and work the land. She served as a regular  model for her husband, and, according to  Jean, all his father’s paintings of women after he met Charigot resemble her to some degree.

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Pierre-Auguste  Renoir,  The Seine at Argenteuil , 1874. Oil on canvas, 19 3/4 x 25 3/4 in. Portland Art Museum, Oregon, Bequest of  Winslow B. Ayer 


PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  The Seine at Chatou  (La Seine à Chatou)  1874  Oil on canvas  Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection  During the 1870s, Renoir often vis ited Chatou, the site of the  Maison Fournaise, where he painted  Luncheon of the Boating Party . In his lively rendering of a  gusty day on the water, Renoir i ncludes a  sailboat, signaling in his paintin g the growing popularity of t he sport.  The Phillips Collection thanks Alan Inouye for his support in b ringing this work to Washington.  


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Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (The Rower’s Lunch) , 1875. Oil on canvas, 21 5/8 x 25 15/16 in. The Art  Institute of Chicago, Potter Palmer Collection 

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  Oarsmen at Chatou, 1879. Oil on canvas, 31 15/16 x 39 7/16 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Gift of  Sam A. Lewisohn 
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  Young Woman Reading an Illustrated Journal, 1880. Oil on canvas, 18 1/4 x 22 in. Museum of Art, Rhode Island  School of Design, Providence, RI, Museum Appropriation Fund 22.125 
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 Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  Boating Couple [said to be Aline Charigot and Renoir] , 1880–81. Oil on canvas, 17 3/4 x 23 in. Museum of Fine  Arts, Boston, Given in memory of Governor Alvan T. Fuller by the Fuller Foundation 

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir,  Dance in the Country , 1883. Brush and brown, blue, and black wash over black chalk or graphite, 19 1/2 x 12 in.  Yale University Art Gallery, Bequest of Edith Malvina K. Wetmore 

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Gustave Caillebotte,  Sailboats on the Seine at Argenteuil, 1893. Oil on canvas, 28 7/8 x 17 in. Private collection 

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Léon Bonnat ,  Portrait of Charles Ephrussi , 1906. Oil on canvas, 18 x 15 in. Private collection. Photo: Vincent DUFOURNIER 

Success came slowly to Renoir. The Franco‐Prussian War of 1870– 71 caused economic depression in  France. Impressionism was controversial and not well received by tradition‐bound critics and institutions. But the establishment of the Third Republic broug ht a tide of optimism and prosperity that  lifted Renoir’s fortunes toward the end of the decade. Keenly a ware of the value of personal contacts  and social connections, the artist cultivated the support of wr iters who understood and praised his work  and collectors who purchased, and  soon, in greater numbers, com missioned portraits and decorations.  

Among those who helped him weather the challenging years of the 1870s were the very individuals who  modeled in 1880 for  Luncheon of the Boating Party. A diverse group of men and women—many of  them well‐traveled and worldly,  many of them stars of their chosen fields, and some of them in  positions of significant influence in the art world—these friends offered Renoir essential support and  encouragement. 

Museum founder Duncan Phillips purchased  Luncheon of the Boating Party from the Durand‐Ruel  Gallery for the reco rd sum of $125,000 in 1923, just two years  after he opened his museum to the  public. The only painting by Renoir in his collection,  Luncheon of the Boating Party has remained the  museum’s greatest treasure. 

 Gustave Caillebotte  

Two documents in the archives of the Durand‐Ruel Gallery tell us that Gustave Caillebotte served as a  model for  Luncheon of the Boating Party , one of which identifies him sp ecifically as the man in the lo wer  right corner of the composition.  Renoir’s good friend was not o nly a painter but also a designer of boats,  an oarsman, and a distinguishe d yachtsman. By 1879, Caillebotte owned his own sailboat, participated in regattas in Argentue il, and had joined the  Cercle de la Voile de Paris (Sailing Club of Paris); he became a vice president of the club in 1880. Born into a family that made its money in the textile business,  Caillebotte used his considerable means to support his Impressionist colleagues and to purchase their  work. Among his early acquisitions was Renoir’s  Dance at the Mou lin de la Galette (1876, Musée  d’Orsay), shown at the third I mpressionist exhibition. Caillebotte’s friendship with Renoir was a close  one: in 1876, Caillebotte named Renoir executor of his will, and when Renoir and Charigot had their first  son in 1885, they asked Caillebotte to be the child’s godfather. 


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PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  The Seine at Argenteuil  (La Seine à Argenteuil)  1874  Oil on canvas  Portland Art Museum, Oregon, Bequest of Winslow B. Ayer  Presumed to have been created on an outing with Claude Monet, w ho painted the same view, this  landscape offers Renoir’s interpr etation of a sailboat coming into dock on the Seine at Argenteuil, a  location renowned for its sailing regattas that provided a lively  plein air subject for Renoir, Monet,  Manet, and other fellow Impressionists.   

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PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  The Seine at Chatou  (La Seine à Chatou)  c. 1871  Oil on canvas  Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Purchased 1935 As early as 1869, Renoir was exploring the banks of the Seine west of Paris, seeking subjects for his developing Impressionist style. His mother lived near Louveciennes, not far from Chatou, where he would frequent the Maison Fournaise with its restaurant, lodging, and boats for hire.   

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PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Boaters of Argenteuil (Canotiers d’Argenteuil)  1873  Oil on canvas  Larry Ellison Collection  This delightful landscape celebr ates many reasons for leaving the heat, bustle, and filth of Paris for an  outing in the country: sailing, rowing, and enjoying river activities from a shady bank.

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PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  The Dreamer (La Rêveuse)  1879  Oil on canvas Saint Louis Art Museum, Museum purchase The model for this painting is thought to be Alphonsine Fournai e, whom Renoir often saw at the  Maison Fournaise in the late 1870s. She posed for him regularly during the years leading up to Luncheon  of the Boating Party . Although there is no direct evidence that Alphonsine modeled  for the young  woman leaning on the railing of the balcony in the grand composition, she may have occasionally joined  the clientele at the Fournaise in such a way.  

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 PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  On the Shore of the Seine (Paysage bord du Seine)  c. 1879  Oil on linen  The Baltimore Museum of Art, Sadie A. May Bequest, Courtesy of  the Fireman’s Fund Insurance  Company  This quickly executed  oil study was probably a gift from Renoir to Alphonsine Fournaise to thank her for modeling for him. In 1864 she married Louis Joseph Papillon, an d we know that a Madame Papillon once owned this piece.  

 EDGAR DEGAS (1834–1917)  Portrait of Ellen Andrée (Portrait d’Ellen Andrée)  c. 1876  Monotype in black and brown ink on ivory paper  The Art Institute of Chicago, Potter Palmer Collection  Ellen Andrée, born Hélène André  around 1855, started acting in  1879. She was a favorite of Degas,  Manet, and Renoir, using her talents as an actress to play many roles as a model. In the early 1880s she  gave up modeling entirely and in 1887 she joined a naturalist t heater, the Teâtre‐Libre. Her career took her to the United States, Argentina, and Russia. She married He nri Julien Dumont, a painter who  specialized in flowers. Degas mad e several portraits of her and she modeled for his painting In a Café  (L’Absinthe) .   

EDGAR DEGAS (1834–1917)  The Actress Ellen Andrée  (L’actrice Ellen Andrée)  1879  Drypoint  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Katherine E. Bullard Fund in memo ry of Francis Bullard, by exchange  Ellen Andrée is thought to have modeled for  Luncheon of the Boating Party as the woman in the center  of the composition raising a gla ss to her lips and/or the woman in the lower right corner looking up.   

PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Bridge at Chatou (Pont à Chatou)  c. 1875  Oil on canvas  Sterling and Francine Clark Art I nstitute, Williamstown, Massachusetts  This bridge crossing the Seine at Chatou is visible from the balcony of the Fournaise restaurant and can  be glimpsed in the background of  Luncheon of the Boating Party.  The Phillips Collection thanks Greg and Bess Ballentine for the ir support in bringing this work to  Washington.  

 PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Woman with a Fan (Femme à l’éventail)  c. 1879  Oil on canvas  Sterling and Francine Clark Art I nstitute, Williamstown, Massachusetts  Woman with a Fan probably depicts Jeanne Samary. Her dressing room at the Coméd ie‐Française was  decorated with striped wallpaper and had Japanese fans on the ceiling. This is one of at least five images  of Samary that Renoir made in t he late 1870s. The artist’s son, Jean, wrote that she modeled for  Luncheon of the Boating Party , and she has been identified as the woman in the upper right c orner  surrounded by admirers.  Jeanne Samary—Smiling  Digital print from a 19th‐century original  Comédie‐Française Bibliothèque‐musée, Paris  Famous for her smile and as a brilliant per former of Molière, J eanne Samary dazzled the audience at the  Comédie‐Française, where she d ebuted in 1875. She lived with he r parents near Renoir’s studio until she  married a banker in 1880. In 1890  she died of typhoid fever at  age 33.  


 PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Madame Renoir with a Dog ( Madame Renoir au chien)  1880  Oil on canvas  Collection of Jacques Durand‐Ruel  Aline Charigot posed for Renoir’s work on numerous occasions. A lthough she spent most of her adult life  in Paris, she never lost her lov e for the countryside, swam “li ke a fish,” according to her son Jean, and  enjoyed boating. This painting dates from the summer of 1880, p robably just weeks before the artist  embarked on his major undertaking of  Luncheon of the Boating Party .  [This work may not be photographed]   

PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Boating Couple (Les Canotiers)  1880–81  Pastel on paper  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Given in memory of Governor Alvan  T. Fuller by the Fuller Foundation  The young woman in this pastel wears a ring on her third finger and holds a bouquet of violets. She  gazes into her partner’s eyes a nd is clearly the object of his  affection. This intimate pair is thought to  represent Aline Charigot and Renoir himself. During the summer  of 1880 the couple spent an increasing  amount of time together, not lon g before she took on a starring role in his masterwork,  Luncheon of the  Boating Party .   

PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919) AND RICHARD GUINO (1890–1973) Mother and Child (Mère et enfant)  1916  Bronze  The Phillips Collection, Acquired 1940 Based on a painting by Renoir fr om 1885 of Aline Charigot feedi ng their first child, this sculpture is one  of several that resulted from a collaboration between the paint er and sculptor Richard Guino. Charigot  died in 1915, prompting Renoir to commemorate her in this piece .  

 PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Young Woman Reading an Illustrate d Journal (Jeune femme lisant  un journal illustré)  c. 1880  Oil on canvas  Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, Museum Appropriation  Fund  Page 8—Wall Text:  Renoir and Friends  Aline Charigot is the young woma n reading a journal in this int imate scene that reflects her interest in  fashion, as well as her close r elationship with the artist.   
   

PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Young Woman Sewing (Jeune femme cousant) c. 1879  Oil on canvas  The Art Institute of Chicago, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn  Memorial Collection Charigot, a seamstress, is  probably the subject of  Young Woman Sewing . Like the painting of the woman  reading, it recalls the art of Fr agonard and Vermeer, demonstra ting the deftness with which Renoir  could declare his admiration for these masters while also bring ing his subjects into the present in a  scene of intimate domesticity.   

PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Mademoiselle Charlotte Berthier  1883  Oil on canvas  National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Gift of Angelika Werth eim Frink  Just as Renoir’s friend and fello w artist Gustave Caillebotte p ainted Aline Charigot in the garden of his  house at Petit‐Gennevilliers in 1891, so too did Renoir paint C aillebotte’s sweetheart, Charlotte Berthier,  though a few years earlier and in a more formal indoor setting. 

PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Oarsmen at Chatou (Les Canotiers à Chatou)  1879  Oil on canvas  National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Gift of Sam A. Lewisoh n  The two prominent figures on the  banks of the river are traditi onally identified as Gustave Caillebotte  and Aline Charigot. An oarsman a ppears to extend an invitation  to board, though it is unclear which, if  either of them, will accept.  

Self-Portrait

PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Self‐Portrait (Autoportrait)  c. 1875  Oil on canvas Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts  In a rare self‐portrait, Renoir captures the ambitious young ma n that he was in his mid‐thirties,  struggling to make a living as a painter. Just a few years late r, as he approached his fortieth birthday, he  determined not to put off any longer the challenge of a complex group composition to be painted on the  terrace of the Maison Fournaise. 

GUSTAVE CAILLEBOTTE (1848–1894)  Madame Renoir in the Garden at Petit‐Gennevilliers (Madame Renoir dans le jar din du Petit‐Gennevilliers)  1891  Oil on canvas Collection of Bruce Toll  Renoir and Caillebotte were clos e friends until Caillebotte die d of a stroke in 1894 at his home at Petit‐ Gennevilliers. Renoir had painted a portrait of Caillebotte’s l ady friend, Charlotte Berthier, in 1883. Here,  Caillebotte produced an informal portrait of Aline Charigot sit ting in his garden.  [This work may not be photographed]

PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Man with a Little Hat (L’Homme au petit chapeau)  1877  Oil on canvas  Private collection  Renoir made two small portraits  of his friend Baron Raoul Barbi er in 1877 and 1878. Barbier frequented  the Maison Fournaise and was desc ribed by Georges Rivière as a  man of inexhaustible energy and  goodwill. Barbier modeled for  Luncheon of the Boating Party —although Renoir depicts Barbier from the  back, he is easily identifiable  as he is wearing the same bowle r style hat as in this portrait.  

MARCELLIN DESBOUTIN (1823–1902)  Portrait of Renoir (Portrait de Renoir)  1877  Drypoint Institut national d’histoire de l’art, Paris Marcellin Desboutin, who showed his work in the third Impressionist exhibition of 1876 and also exhibited at the Salon, made paintings and etchings in a relatively conservative style. Joining the Impressionist group at the Café  Nouvelle‐Athènes during the 1870s, he shared their radical views about  art and society. In this portrait of Renoir, Desboutin captured his friend’s relaxed intensity as well as his characteristic informality of dress and posture. 



PIERRE‐AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841–1919)  Georges Rivière  1877  Oil on cement  National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection  

Renoir’s friend Georges Rivière reviewed the second Impressionist exhibition for the journal L’Esprit moderne and the following year he wrote about the “new painting” of the Impressionists for a short‐lived weekly,  L’Impressioniste, where he again praised Renoir’s work with lavish enthusiasm.He became a close friend of Renoir, often accompanying him to evening soirées at the home of Marguerite and  Georges Charpentier, publishers of  La Vie moderne . Fifteen years younger than the artist, Rivière modeled for Dance at the Moulin de la Galette (1876). This profile portrait of Rivière with his strong brows and pencil‐thin moustache may underlie the face in profile at the center of Luncheon of the  Boating Party.  


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Founder Duncan Phillips first encountered Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party in 1911 while he was in Europe and the painting was owned by the artist’s dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. A few years later in a 1914 essay, Phillips was still taken by the masterpiece and wrote that it captured the essence of “life’s vivacity” and the pleasures of “men and women lunching up the river on a hot holiday, the fitful breeze flapping the awnings and the general discussion becoming of more importance than the dessert.” While preparing to establish a museum of modern art and its sources, Phillips started an acquisition strategy that identified significant masterworks to serve as the collection’s foundation. Duncan Phillips’s journals reveal that Renoir’s painting was at the top of his wish list.

By July 9, 1923, only 18 months after the museum opened and just over a decade since Phillips first saw the painting, the Phillips Memorial Gallery reached a deal to purchase the work for $125,000. The very next day, Phillips shared his excitement: “The big Renoir deal has gone through with Durand-Ruel and the Phillips Memorial Gallery is to be the possessor of one of the greatest paintings in the world. The Déjeuner des Canotiers [Luncheon of the Boating Party] is the masterpiece by Renoir and finer than any Rubens—as fine as any Titian or Giorgione….Its fame is tremendous and people will travel thousands of miles to our house to see it. It will do more good arousing interest and support for our project than all the rest of our collection put together. Such a picture creates a sensation wherever it goes.”

Just as Phillips imagined it would be when he bought the painting in 1923, Luncheon of the Boating Party by Renoir remains the best known and most popular work of art at The Phillips Collection. The painting captures an idyllic atmosphere as Renoir's friends share food, wine, and conversation on a balcony overlooking the Seine at the Maison Fournaise restaurant in Chatou. Parisians flocked to the Maison Fournaise to rent rowing skiffs, eat a good meal, or stay the night. The painting also reflects the changing character of French society in the mid- to late 19th century. The restaurant welcomed customers of many classes, including businessmen, society women, artists, actresses, writers, critics, seamstresses, and shop girls. This diverse group embodied a new, modern Parisian society.






Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Young Woman Reading an Illustrated Journal, 1880. Oil on canvas, 18 1/4 x 22 in. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, Museum Appropriation Fund 22.125


CATALOGUE



Renoir and Friends: Luncheon of the Boating Party will be accompanied by a full-color catalogue published by D Giles Limited. The publication, edited by Eliza Rathbone (Chief Curator Emerita, The Phillips Collection), will feature Rathbone’s essay along with others by Elizabeth Steele (Head of Conservation, The Phillips Collection), Sara Tas (Curator of Exhibitions, Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam), Mary Morton (Curator and Head of the Department of French Painting, National Gallery of Art), Aileen Riberio (Professor Emerita, Courtauld Institute of Art, United Kingdom), and Sylvie Patry (Deputy Director for Collections and Exhibitions and Chief Curator, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia).

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