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The Seine & Boating Collection: Pierre-Auguste Renoir Oil Painting Reproductions

Showing 49–64 of 77 results

Croissy, Chatou and the invention of a style

La Grenouillere was a floating cafe and bathing place on an island at Croissy, popular with Parisians who came out by train for the day. In the summer of 1869 Monet and Renoir painted there together, in short broken strokes, because nothing slower could keep up with moving water and moving crowds. It is the moment the technique arrives.

A decade later Renoir was working at the Maison Fournaise at Chatou, a riverside restaurant with a first floor balcony, and using its regulars as models. The boating world of the period was a genuine subculture of rowers, sailors and their friends, and he painted it from inside it.

Water, and what it does to a wall

These are the coolest paintings Renoir made. The blues and greens of the river give the group a temperature the rest of his catalogue does not have, which makes it the easiest choice for a room that is already warm. They also carry a strong horizontal, so they suit wide walls, and the eye reads them comfortably from a distance.

Which room this collection suits

Wide formats above a sofa, a sideboard or a bed; the crowd scenes need size, the empty river views do not. In a warm room, or one with terracotta or wood tones, the cool water palette gives relief. Avoid hanging them opposite a bright window, since the surface of a river painting is largely pale and reflective and glare washes it out.

Frequently asked questions

Is Luncheon of the Boating Party in this collection?

Yes, along with the studies and related canvases painted at the Maison Fournaise at Chatou, and the earlier Grenouillere pictures from Croissy.

What is La Grenouillere?

A floating cafe and bathing place on the Seine at Croissy, reached by train from Paris and popular through the 1860s and 1870s. Renoir and Monet painted there together in 1869, and those canvases are usually treated as the first fully Impressionist paintings.

Are these seascapes?

No. They are river scenes, mostly with people, boats and riverbank buildings in the frame. If you want open water and coastline, look in the Landscapes collection, which includes the Brittany and Normandy coasts.

What size do the crowd scenes need?

Larger than the empty river views. A boating party canvas holds a dozen faces, and below about eighty centimetres on the long side those faces stop reading as people. Our sizing guide gives the thresholds.