About this work
A sun-warmed balcony on the Seine. A table crowded with wine glasses, fruit, and the remnants of lunch. Fourteen figures — artists, actors, seamstresses, and socialites — caught in mid-conversation, mid-flirtation, mid-reverie.
Measuring an impressive 51 by 68 inches, *Luncheon of the Boating Party* is among the largest canvases Renoir ever made. The eye enters at the lower left, where Renoir's future wife, Aline Charigot, sits in the foreground playing with a small affenpinscher dog.
The diagonal of the railing cleaves the composition in two: one half densely packed with figures, the other nearly empty, making those who occupy it — the proprietor's daughter and her brother — stand out by contrast.
Renoir captures a great deal of light; it enters from the large opening in the balcony beside the singlet-clad man in the hat, and the white table-cloth and clothing work together to send it bouncing through the whole composition.
The handling remains unmistakably Impressionistic — working in bright, warm colours, Renoir captures the effects of light diffused by the striped awning overhead.
The painting was made between late 1880 and March 1881, depicting a leisurely Sunday afternoon at the Maison Fournaise, a popular restaurant and boat rental on the Seine in the Paris suburb of Chatou.
In the background, one of the many new railway bridges built by the French government — a symbol of modernity — is visible; it was these new lines that allowed Parisians like Renoir's friends to leave the city and reach the riverside.
It took sixteen arduous months to complete this image of casual leisure — Renoir broke his dominant arm mid-way through and was forced to paint with his left hand. This is widely regarded as his last truly Impressionistic painting, and it captures him mid-stream between two styles:
the sailboats and still life in the background rendered with quick Impressionistic energy, while the figures — especially those closest to the foreground — are volumetric and defined.
Exhibited at the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition in 1882, it was identified as the best painting in the show by three critics.
The work is thought to show the influence of Veronese — in particular *The Wedding Feast at Cana* — in its grand banquet composition.
This print belongs in a room that hosts people — a dining room where dinner runs long, a living room that sees real conversation, a
