Renoir and Love

A celebration of Renoir's imagery of love in all its guises: from friendship, affection, flirtation and seduction to camaraderie and parenthood

Published with Mus嶪 d'Orsay/Grand Palais Rmn, Paris/National Gallery Global Limited, London.

More so than any of his Impressionist contemporaries, Pierre-Auguste Renoir was committed to chronicling love and friendship in his work. He understood that the emotion--whether seen on Parisian street corners or in sun-dappled woodlands--could be as fleeting and blinding as his other great and transitory subject: light. Focusing on the artist's career from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s, this catalog traces the evolution of how the artist depicted love in all its varied manifestations, from platonic and familial to romantic and sexual. Such themes are explored in tender and personal works as well as beguiling multi-figure compositions of urban and suburban sociability, including his trio of dancing couples that remain symbols of fin-de-si鋃le France. Published in tandem with a major international touring exhibition, Renoir & Love explores the artist's ruminations on the subject through thematic essays, focused entries on key artworks, and vivid reproductions of works ranging from intimate sketches to intricate, full-length paintings.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) was a founder of the style that became known as Impressionism, and one of the movement's most prolific members. Described by Herbert Read as "the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau," Renoir was a connoisseur and champion of feminine beauty. Surviving most of his contemporaries, Renoir lived to see his paintings hung at the Louvre alongside the Old Masters he so revered.