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Close to us, a woman and two men stand on a grassy riverbank looking out at the expanse of the river that nearly fills this horizontal landscape painting. A fourth person sits in a long, narrow canoe that angles from the riverbank near the lower left corner to our right, and it extends off the right edge of the canvas. The people all have pale, peachy skin. The man closest to us, to our right of the trio, wears a white hat and jacket and dark pants as he gazes across the river with his hands in his jacket pockets. The other man and woman, to our left, look toward us. The woman wears a royal-blue hat pulled low over her eyes. Her dress has a blue skirt, and her petal-pink corseted bodice is trimmed with white. The third standing person, along the left edge of the painting, wears blue and brown, and a straw-colored hat. The man in the boat wears a white long-sleeved shirt with a blue cravat at his neck, a crimson-red cummerbund at his waist, blue pants, and a brimmed, straw hat. He turns to look over his right shoulder, and he holds the end of a long oar in his right hand. The surface of the water is painted with short touches of vibrant blue paint. A sailboat, barge, and two other sculls float on the river between us and the far bank, which comes three-quarters of the way up the composition. A few white houses and buildings line the water amid tall grasses on the opposite bank on the right half of the painting. The blue sky is painted with long strokes in blue and white. The brushstrokes are loose throughout, creating a blurred, feathery texture.

Auguste Renoir

Oarsmen at Chatou, 1879

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 85

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 81.2 x 100.2 cm (31 15/16 x 39 7/16 in.)

framed: 104.1 x 123.5 x 9.5 cm (41 x 48 5/8 x 3 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Sam A. Lewisohn

Accession Number

1951.5.2

Artists / Makers

Auguste Renoir (artist) French, 1841 - 1919

Image Use

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Inscription

lower right: A.Renoir. 79

Provenance

Sold by the artist 1911 to (Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York, Paris stock no. 9739; New York stock no. 3536); sold May 1912 to Arthur B. Emmons; (his sale, American Art Association, New York, 14 January 1920, no. 47); purchased by (Durand-Ruel, New York, stock no. 4419) and (M. Knoedler & Co., London, New York and Paris); sold February 1922 to Adolph Lewisohn [c. 1849-1938], New York; [1] by inheritance to his son Sam A. Lewisohn [1884-1951], New York; bequest 1951 to NGA.

[1]See letter to Colin Bailey from Paul-Louis Durand-Ruel dated 27 March 2006, copy NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

American Art Association
Durand-Ruel et Cie
Emmons, Arthur B.
Knoedler & Company, M.
Lewisohn, Adolph
Lewisohn, Sam A.

Exhibition History

1882: Possibly 7me Exposition des Artistes Independants [Seventh Impressionist Exhibition], Paris, 1882, no. 151, as Canotiers

1912: Renoir, Moderne Galerie Heinrich Thannhauser, Munich, 1912, no. 5

1912: Tableaux par Renoir, Durand-Ruel et Cie., Paris, 27 April - 15 May 1912, no. 27

1912: Views on the Seine by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Durand Ruel, New York, 1937, no. 3., repro.

1912: VII Ausstellung, Cassirer, Berlin, 1912

1920: International Exhibition of Paintings, The Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 29 April - 30 June 1930, no. 281.

1926: Exhibition of Works by Pierre -August Renoir (1941-1919), Ernest Brown & Phillips, The Leicester Galleries, London, 1925, as Canotiers.

1928: Loan Exhibition of Paintings from Memling, Holbein, and Titian to Renoir and Picasso, Reinhardt Galleries, New York, 1928, no. 21

1933: Exposition Renoir, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 1933, no. 10, repro.

1934: Landscape Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1934, no. 55, repro.

1937: Renoir: A Special Exhibition of His Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1937, no. 24, repro.

1937: "Views on the Seine" by Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, Durand-Ruel Galleries, New York, 1937, no. 3

1940: Masterpieces of Art. European & American Paintings 1500-1900, New York World's Fair, 1940, no. 329.

1941: Loan Exhibition in Honor of Royal Cortissoz and his 50 Years of Criticism in the New York Herald Tribune, M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1941, no. 24

1941: Renoir Centennial Loan Exhibition 1841-1941 for the Benefit of the Free French Relief Committee, Duveen Galleries, 1941, no. 31, repro.

1946: Paintings from New York Private Collections, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1946, no. cat.

1950: Loan Exhibition of Renoir for the Benefit of the New York Infantry, Wildenstein and Co., New York, 1950, no. 29, repro.

1951: The Lewisohn Collection: A Catalogue ... before the dispersal of bequests to various museums and galleries, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1951, no. 68

1984: A Day in the Country: Impressionism and the French Landscape, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Art Institute of Chicago; Grand Palais, Paris, 1984-1985

1986: Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 1986, no. 31, repro.

1996: Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party", The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1996-1997, pl. 56, repro.

2001: Renoir: From Outsider to Old Master 1870-1892, Bridgestone Museum of Art, Tokyo; Nagoya City Art Museum, 2001, no. 15, repro.

2002: Renoir o Pintor Da Vida, Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo, 2002, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2007: Renoir Landscapes 1865-1883, The National Gallery, London; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2007-2008, no. 50, repro., as Rowers at Chatou (shown only in London and Ottawa).

2010: Impressionism on the Seine, Musée des impressionnismes Giverny, 2010, no. 31, repro.

2011: Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 44, repro.

2013: Impressionists on the Water, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Legion of Honor Museum; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, 2013-2014, pl. 122.

2017: Renoir and Friends: Luncheon of the Boating Party, The Phillips Collection, Washington, 2017-2018, no. 29, repro.

Bibliography

1924: Vollard, Ambroise Auguste Renoir. Berlin, 1924: repro.

1926: Hertz, Henri. "Renoir." Art in America XIV, no. 2 (February 1926): repro. p. 49.

1928: Bourgeois, Stephan. The Adolph Lewisohn Collection of Modern French Paintings and Sculptures. New York, 1928:124, 131, repro.

1928: Cortissoz, Royal. "Auguste Renoir and the Cult for Beauty" International Studio (August 1928): repro.

1928: "Old and Modern Masters Shown at Reinhardt's." Art News 26 (3 March 1928):8.

1929: Meier-Graefe, Julius. Renoir. Leipzig, 1929:95-96, repro. no. 34.

1930: Vollard, Ambroise. Renoir: An Intimate Record. New York, 1930:239.

1931: Wilenski, R.H. French Painting. Boston, 1931: 262, 267 n. 1

1932: Bourgeois, Stephan and Waldemar George. "The French Paintings of the XIX and XX Centuries in the Adolph and Samuel Lewisohn Collection." Formes 28-29 (1932): 306, repro.

1933: Roger-Marx, Claude. Renoir. Paris, 1933:29.

1935: Barnes, Albert C. and Violette de Mazia. The Art of Renoir. New York, 1935: 52-55, 64n, 382-383, no. 24, repro.

1935: Bertram, Anthony. August Renoir. London, 1935: repro. plate II.

1937: Duret, Théodore. Renoir. New York, 1937: repro. 51.

1937: Frost, Rosamund. "The Seine of the Impressionists." Art News (23 January 1937):10, repro.

1937: Lewisohn, Samuel. Painters and Personality: A Collector's View of Modern Art. New York, 1937:220, repro. plate 101.

1937: McBride, Henry. "The Renoirs in America: In Appreciation of the Metropolitan Museum's Exhibition," Art News 35, no. 31 (1 May 1937):60.

1938: Florisoone, Michel. Renior. Paris, 1938: repro. 108.

1940: Wilenski, R.H. Modern French Painters. New York, 1940: 5, 6, 22, 31, 74. repro. plate 6A.

1941: Cheney, Sheldon. The Story of Modern Art. New York, 1941:repro. 197.

1944: Drucker, Michel. Renoir. Paris, 1944:183, 185.

1944: Frost, Rosamund. Pierre Auguste Renoir. New York, 1944:32, repro.

1944: Wilenski, R.H. Modern French Painters. London, 1944: 5, 6, 22, 31, 74, pl. 6A.

1946: Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. New York, 1946: repro.

1948: Leclerc, André. Renoir. New York, 1948: repro. 16.

1949: Wilenski, Reginald H. Modern French Painters. New York, 1949: xiii, 6, 22, repro. 6A.

1952: Catinat, Maurice. Les Bords de la Seine avec Renoir et Maupassant. Chatou, 1952: 39, repro. 37.

1952: Renoir, Jean. "My Memories of Renoir." Life (19 May 1952):93, repro.

1954: Rouart, Denis. Renoir. Geneva, 1954:53, repro.

1957: Fox, Milton. A Gallery of Portraits by Renoir. New York, 1957:2.

1961: Fosca, François. Renoir, His Life and Work. London, 1961:120.

1962: Leymarie, Jean. French Painting: The Nineteenth Century. Geneva, 1962:195.

1962: Renoir, Jean. Renoir, My Father-. Boston and Toronto, 1962:214.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 325, repro.

1964: Perruchot, Henri. "Renoir et Monet à la Grenouillière." Jardin des Arts 113 (April 1964): 58, repro.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 112.

1968: Hanson, Lawrence. Renoir: The Man, The Painter, and his World. New York, 1968: 183,198.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 99, repro.

1968: Tyler, Parker. Renoir. New York, 1968: no 20, color repro.

1970: Renior. Paris, Réalités Hachette, 1970:64, 82, 124, 198, repro.

1971: François Daulte. Auguste Renoir, catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Vol.I: Figures 1860-1890. Lausanne, 1971: no. 307.

1972: Fezzi, Elda. L'opera completa di Renoir nel period impressionista. Milan, 1972: no. 370, repro. pl. XL.

1972: Rieff, Robert. "Review of F. Daulte Auguste Renoir Volume 1, Figures." Art Bulletin 54 (December 1972): 560.

1973: Fahy, Everett, and Francis John Bagott Watson. The Wrightsman Collection. Vol. 5: Paintings, drawings, sculpture. New York, 1973: under no. 190.

1973: Patterson, Jerry E. "The Appreciation of Renoir." Art News 72, no. 2 (February 1973):44.

1973: Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. New York, 1973: 433, 456, repro. 432.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 292, repro.

1976: Gaunt, William. Renoir. Oxford, 1976: repro. 32

1978: Berhaut, Marie. Caillebotte, sa vie et son oeuvre. Catalogue raisonne des peintures et pastels. Paris, 1978. Rev. ed. 1994: 9, repro.

1978: Leymarie, Jean. Renoir. Paris, 1978: repro. 25.

1978: Martini, Alberto. Renoir. New York, 1978:14, no. 33, repro. plate XXXIII.

1982: Gaunt, William. Renoir. 3rd. ed. Oxford, 1982: repro. 32.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 462, no. 673, color repro.

1984: White, Barbara Ehrlich. Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters. New York, 1984:95, repro. 97.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 336, repro.

1986: The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886. Exh. cat. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; National Gallery of Art, Washington. San Francisco, 1986: 395.

1988: Herbert, Robert L. Impressionism: Art, Leisure and Parisian Society. New Haven, 1988:252-254, 258, 303, 313, repro.

1992: Feist, Peter H. Malerei des Impressionismus. 2 vols. Cologne, 1992: I:11, repro.

1995: Distel, Anne. Renoir A Sensuous Vision. New York, 1995:71, repro.

1996: Berson, Ruth, ed. The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886 -- Documentation. 2 vols. San Francisco, 1996: 1:413; 2I:211, no. VII-151, repro.

1996: Rathbone, Eliza E., et al. Impressionists on the Seine: A Celebration of Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party. Washington, 1996:34-35, 73, repro. pl. 56.

1996: Sagner-Düchting, Karin. Renoir: Paris and the Belle Epoque. Munich, 1996:98-99, repros. 92, 94.

1997: Bailey, Colin B. Renoir's Portraits: Impressions of an age.Yale University Press New Haven and London, in association with National Gallery of Canada Ottawa, 1997:320, n.6.

1997: Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism. New York, 1997: no. 222, repro.

2004: Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 381, no. 315, color repro.

2008: Vallès-Bled, Maïthé. Vlaminck. Paris, 2008: 298 under no. 130, repro.

2009: Vincent van Gogh -- Between Earth and Heaven: The Landscapes. Exh. cat. Kunstmuseum Basel, 2009: 93, fig. 53.