February 2017 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir

"After several of his paintings were rejected by the Salon in the early 1870s, Renoir decided to join Monet in establishing an independent artist’s society. The Impressionists, as they were called, sought to capture modern life and Renoir’s works from this period focused on everyday people, streets, and surroundings.[...]

Around 1878 Renoir decided to look back to the old masters for an art of structure, craft, and permanence. His first painting in this vein is the Luncheon of the Boating Party [...]"

Quote: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/augu/hd_augu.htm

Picture from: https://www.phillipscollection.org/collection/boating-party