Pierre Auguste Renoir: Art, Beauty, and The Luncheon of the Boating Party

Renoir's Philosophy of Beauty and Joy

"Art should be pretty," Pierre Auguste Renoir said. There are enough ugly things in the world. His paintings expressed this great love of beauty; a sense of joy and discovery can be seen in all his works. According to the artist's son Jean, Renoir found each occasion of painting to be a marvelous revelation to him, whether he painted the same girl or the same bunch of grapes a hundred times.

This philosophy guided every aspect of his artistic practice. Renoir's commitment to capturing beauty and moments of pleasure set him apart from many of his contemporaries and became the defining characteristic of his most celebrated works. His ability to infuse everyday scenes with genuine emotion and visual delight made his paintings resonate with both his subjects and, eventually, with the broader public.

The Luncheon of the Boating Party: Scope and Ambition

A prime example of the artist's ability to capture the joy of a single moment on canvas can be seen in The Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881). This painting depicts the carefree gathering of French revelers, having just concluded a convivial meal. Renoir recreates the beauty of the river scene and one of life's greatest pleasures: the joy of eating and drinking with friends.

This seemingly casual scene was a huge undertaking for the artist and took many months to complete. The painting includes several detailed portraits, an intricate still life, and a landscape; any one of these segments could have been the subject of a single work. Renoir himself understood the magnitude of the task, writing to Paul Bérard: "I am not getting any younger and I didn't want to delay this little feast, for later I won't be up to the effort; it's hard enough already. It's a good thing from time to time to attempt something beyond one's powers."

Impressionism and Optical Technique

At this time in his life, from 1874 to 1880, Renoir had many friends but little money. Yet it was a wonderful time, when his artistic genius flourished with the support of fellow artists, including Claude Monet. "Although we don't eat every day, I am still quite cheerful," Renoir said of this friendship.

Many of Renoir's friends and models can be recognized in the group, including his future wife Aline Charigot, in the left foreground holding a puppy. One of the models, Baron Barbier, also served as a stage manager for the event, getting boats for the background and rounding up models.

Renoir had made a similar expansive "real life" scene with Bal at the Moulin de la Gallette. This painting shows an open-air dance hall, with a small group seated in the foreground while several well-dressed couples dance in the background. As with Boating Party, the models used were Renoir's friends. The setting, Moulin de la Gallette, was a popular dance hall for working-class families. They danced for the love of it, with happy abandon. Renoir knew most of them and felt perfectly at home there. It was the people's Paris he had known as a child, growing up as the son of a tailor in a large working-class family.

In these paintings, Renoir uses small strokes and vibrant colors to simulate actual reflected light. This technique of painting would become known as Impressionism. Along with Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille, Renoir was a founding member of this artistic movement, helping to organize the artistic review "L'Impressioniste" in 1877. Artists Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, and Camille Pissarro were among the new artists included in this group.

With its attention to outdoor effects of light, shadow, and reflection, Renoir's painting technique conveys lively and random activity in The Luncheon of the Boating Party. The whites in this painting are masterful, alive with the blues and greens of reflected light. Renoir's handling of white is the most masterful passage of the painting and contributes to the effect of filtered light on a brilliant day.

Critical Reception and Artistic Resilience

The amazing recreation of natural light, shining through leaves and reflected by the river, is further achieved by Renoir's use of optical mixture: juxtaposing on the canvas tiny comma-like dabs of color which then merge in the spectator's eye while retaining their vibrant qualities. With this new method, Renoir succeeded even in his large canvases in capturing the flickering effect of sunlight through foliage or playing over the faces and clothing of his models in white or golden pools. In Boating Party, these undulating brushstrokes define the edge of the awning, suggesting the breeze that makes it flutter—"the same breeze that also ripples the water and refreshes the joyous crowd that lingers at their tables on the terrace long after the meal is done."

Although this technique is now considered an artistic breakthrough, at the time it was ridiculed. In 1876, the Impressionists held an exhibition of their work, which was a complete disaster. They did not even sell enough to cover the expense of the show. Art critic Albert Wolf wrote a scathing review: "Try to bring M. Renoir to reason; tell him about drawing, color, execution, purpose, and he will laugh in your face. Try to explain to M. Renoir that woman's torso is not a mass of decomposing flesh, with violet-toned green spots all over it, indicating a corpse in the last stages of decay."

Renoir was not the least bit discouraged by the article or his lack of financial success. "We had only one fixed idea," he told his son, "to exhibit our work, show our canvases everywhere until we could reach the public. I mean the public not dulled by 'official' art. We were sure that it existed somewhere. As my friend Monet said, the critics are always mistaken. If they praised us, we might have been worried."

The Turning Point: Acceptance and Artistic Transition

This resilience in the face of harsh criticism demonstrates Renoir's unwavering commitment to his artistic vision. Rather than modifying his approach to suit contemporary taste, he and his fellow Impressionists continued to develop and refine their revolutionary techniques, confident that future audiences would understand and appreciate their work.

The Luncheon of the Boating Party marks both the end of Renoir's "Impressionist" period and the beginning of public acceptance for his art. The painting was completed in his studio in early 1881. A few weeks later, it was sold to art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. The following year it was greeted with considerable critical acclaim, allowing Renoir to finally live comfortably through the sale of his paintings. He then devoted himself to studying classical themes in art, favoring subjects from Greek mythology and the Renaissance instead of the modern life of the late nineteenth century.

Rendering atmosphere and light was abandoned for style and precision of line. "I had got to the very end with Impressionism, and came to the realization that I didn't know how to paint or draw," he said. This change is known as the Ingresque period, although Renoir called it his "harsh manner." The Large Bathers (1887), a study of four nudes by a stream, is a perfect example of his classical style.

This transition reflects not a rejection of his earlier work but rather an evolution of his artistic practice. Financial security allowed Renoir the freedom to explore new directions and refine his technical mastery in ways that had previously been impossible. The success of The Luncheon of the Boating Party validated his years of struggle and opened new possibilities for artistic expression.