Guarding Renoir

Image courtesy of The Phillips Collection

My first day working as a Museum Assistant at The Phillips Collection happened to be the opening of Renoir and Friends. By some administrative fluke, or perhaps as a test, I was assigned to guard the pride and joy of the collection and the centerpiece of the show, Luncheon of the Boating Party.

Renoir has become a bit of a divisive artist in the art world. Beloved by much of the general public, he is remembered by his detractors for cloying pastels, mushy vegetation, and vaguely voyeuristic nudes. In some circles, Renoir has come to stand for “easy art”—the type of art for people who don’t know much about art. This attitude even made its way into mainstream media when, in 2015, art students protesting Renoir’s art, picketed outside the MFA in Boston holding signs proclaiming “GOD HATES RENOIR” and “reNOir.” The Atlantic ran a piece titled “Why Absolutely Everyone Hates Renoir.” The Guardian, The Smithsonian Magazine, and NPR all followed suit and ran pieces on the artist’s maligned reputation. With all this floating around in the back of my mind, I was curious to see what it would be like to guard arguably Renoir’s most famous work.

If I was expecting impassioned tongue and cheek protests I was sorely disappointed. I didn’t, however, see the sort of superficial adoration that super-famous works (think the Mona Lisa) seem to provoke.

Instead I witnessed people of varying age, race, gender, and physical ability pay homage to art that genuinely seemed to matter to them. The Luncheon of the Boating Party, like Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series or the Rothko Room, is a sort of pilgrimage destination within the Phillips. People would arrive at the final room of the show and break into beaming grins, eagerly snap pictures with friends, or fall into sobered silence when finally face to face with this masterpiece.

On some occasions visitors would come up to me or my colleagues to express their satisfaction and comment on how wonderful it must be to work at such a place.

It was moving to see art matter as profoundly as it did in the gallery with Luncheon of the Boating Party. In a world where our attention spans have been so shortened; where we have become desensitized through the sensationalism that bombards us daily, somehow the aura of this painting still has the power to move people either to joy or (perhaps even more impressively) to humbled silence. Whether or not this makes Renoir a great artist is somewhat beside the point. The reactions to Luncheon of the Boating Party are evidence that art can still matter to us collectively in profound and personal ways. In this sense, it doesn’t matter if the people gazing glassy-eyed at the painting “know” anything about art or art history; it seemed to strike them at a human level and in a way that reminds us all of the most fundamental point of art and its creation: to build connections within and between people.

Elliot Mackin, Museum Assistant

Beneath the Surface of Luncheon of the Boating Party (Part 3)

In order to understand how Pierre-August Renoir created Luncheon of the Boating Party, a technical study was conducted in the conservation studio. By closely examining the surface and comparing it to x-radiographic and infrared images, we learn that Renoir made numerous changes both large and small over several months. While he deftly captured the moment of friends casually enjoying an afternoon at a restaurant on the Seine, the in-depth analyisis shows that he labored to capture the immediacy of the scene.

Explore fresh findings from a recent technical analysis of Luncheon of the Boating Party through this interactive feature

Raking light (left) and infrared (right) details of the table setting

Raking light (left) and infrared (right) details of the table setting

Revisions to the table setting
Just as he reworked his sitters, Renoir also revised objects on the table.
a) A wine glass in front of the cask was painted out.
b) An aperitif glass was replaced with a small bunch of grapes.
c) Another wineglass in front of the fruit bowl was removed.
d) One of the tall glasses on the right was originally a stemmed glass.

Although it is possible that tableware changed between painting sessions and Renoir modified his depiction accordingly, these may be deliberate choices he made after the fact or in his studio.

Beneath the Surface of Luncheon of the Boating Party (Part 2)

In order to understand how Pierre-August Renoir created Luncheon of the Boating Party, a technical study was conducted in the conservation studio. By closely examining the surface and comparing it to x-radiographic and infrared images, we learn that Renoir made numerous changes both large and small over several months. While he deftly captured the moment of friends casually enjoying an afternoon at a restaurant on the Seine, the in-depth analyisis shows that he labored to capture the immediacy of the scene.

Explore fresh findings from a recent technical analysis of Luncheon of the Boating Party through this interactive feature

Addition of the Awning
Renoir made a critical modification to the composition by adding an awning across the top edge of the picture. Sweeping textured brushstrokes that do not correspond to the awning’s striped fabric are easily visible in the upper left, showing that the landscape and sky initially dominated the top of Luncheon of the Boating Party. Upon close inspection, we can see that the bridge was initially visible in its entirety, along with a dwelling on the far left. The colors used in the foliage—yellow, blue, orange, green, and white—are discernable beneath the thinly painted fabric. The infrared image (left) also indicates that he shifted the placement of the figure.

Infrared image of Luncheon of the Boating Party

The higher placement of the figure’s hat is seen as a dark shadow above its current position. Sketched lines across his forehead show that Renoir made several adjustments to the format of the hat before settling on its final location.