Luncheon of the Boating Party

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Oil on canvas

The Phillips Collection

Painted between 1880 and 1881, Luncheon of the Boating Party (Le Déjeuner des canotiers) depicts a convivial gathering of Renoir's friends and acquaintances on the sun-dappled balcony of the Maison Fournaise restaurant along the Seine River in Chatou, France. The composition masterfully unites figure painting, still life, and landscape within a single canvas, suffused with the warm, flickering light and fluid brushwork characteristic of French Impressionism. Among the identifiable figures are the painter Gustave Caillebotte, Renoir's future wife Aline Charigot, the actress Jeanne Samary, and the actress Ellen Andrée, representing the diverse social milieu of late nineteenth-century Parisian life. Widely regarded as one of the crowning achievements of Impressionist painting, the work was exhibited at the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition in 1882, where it was hailed by multiple critics as the finest painting on view.