Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a leading French Impressionist artist. In his depiction of feminine beauty, Renoir has been described as "the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau."
Paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880)
Luncheon of the Boating Party (French: Le Déjeuner des canotiers) is an 1880–1881 painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Exhibited at the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition in 1882, it was identified as the best painting in the show by three critics. It was purchased from the artist by the dealer-patron Paul Durand-Ruel and bought in 1923 (for $125,000) from his son by industrialist Duncan Phillips, who spent a decade in pursuit of the work. It is now in The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. It shows a richness of form, a fluidity of brush stroke, and a flickering light.
The painting, combining figures, still-life, and landscape in one work, depicts a group of Renoir's friends relaxing on a balcony at the Maison Fournaise restaurant along the Seine river in Chatou, France. The painter and art patron, Gustave Caillebotte, is seated in the lower right. Renoir's future wife, Aline Charigot, is in the foreground playing with a small dog, an affenpinscher; she replaced an earlier woman who sat for the painting but with whom Renoir became annoyed. On the table are fruit and wine.
Bal du moulin de la Galette (1876)
Bal du moulin de la Galette (commonly known as Dance at Le moulin de la Galette) is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
It is housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and is one of Impressionism's most celebrated masterpieces. The painting depicts a typical Sunday afternoon at the original Moulin de la Galette in the district of Montmartre in Paris. In the late 19th century, working-class Parisians would dress up and spend time there dancing, drinking, and eating galettes into the evening. Like other works of Renoir's early maturity, Bal du moulin de la Galette is a typically Impressionist snapshot of real life. It shows a richness of form, a fluidity of brush stroke, and a flickering, sun-dappled light.
The Swing (Renoir) (1876)
The Swing (French: La Balançoire) is an oil-on-canvas painting made in the summer of 1876 by the French Impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The painting depicts model Jeanne Samary, Norbert Goeneutte, and Renoir's brother Edmond. The painting combines eighteenth-century techniques with modern elements.
The Swing has been compared to the works of artists including Monet and Watteau. Renoir executed the painting in what are now the Musée de Montmartre gardens. He had rented a cottage in the gardens so that he could be closer to the Moulin de la Galette where he was simultaneously engaged in painting his 1876 Bal du moulin de la Galette. Both paintings were presented at the third Impressionist group exhibition in 1877. The painting was acquired in 1877, shortly after the exhibition, by Gustave Caillebotte and later moved to the Musée d'Orsay.
Les Grandes Baigneuses (Renoir) (1884)
Les Grandes Baigneuses, or The Large Bathers, is a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir made between 1884 and 1887. The painting is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in Philadelphia.
The painting depicts a scene of nude women bathing. In the foreground, two women are seated beside the water, and a third is standing in the water near them. In the background, two others are bathing. The one standing in the water in the foreground appears to be about to splash one of the women seated on the shore with water. That woman leans back to avoid the expected splash of water.
Girls at the Piano (1892)
Young Girls at the Piano (French: Jeunes filles au piano) is an oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. The painting represents his late work period (1892–1919). It was completed in 1892 as an informal commission for the Musée du Luxembourg. Renoir painted three other variations of this composition in oil and two sketches, one in oil and one in pastel. Known by the artist as repetitions, they were executed to fulfill commissions from dealers and collectors. The work is on public display at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris.
Renoir depicts two young girls at a piano in a bourgeois home, one in a white dress with blue sash seated playing and one in a pink dress standing. Renoir completed three additional versions of this composition in oil for collectors; the Luxembourg version is now housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Robert Lehman Collection version is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, while the Caillebotte version and one other are in private collections. An oil sketch of the composition is on display at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris and a pastel sketch is in a private collection. The painting in the Musée d'Orsay is 116 cm high and 90 cm wide. The version at the Met is 111.8 x 86.4 cm. The oil sketch at the Musée de l'Orangerie is 116.0 x 81.0 cm.
La Loge (1874)
La Loge ('The Theatre Box') is an 1874 oil painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is part of the collection at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.
The painting depicts a young couple in a box at the Paris theatre. The woman was modeled by Nini Lopez, Renoir's new model who would feature in fourteen of his paintings over the next few years. The man in the painting was his brother Edmond, a journalist and art critic. Renoir's La Loge reflects an emerging interest in the "Theatre Box" as a new subject in during this time period. Going to the theatre in nineteenth-century France was as much about being seen as watching the performance. While the woman is making her presence obvious, her companion is scanning the audience through his opera-glasses.
The Umbrellas (Renoir) (1881)
The Umbrellas is an oil-on-canvas painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, painted in two phases in the 1880s. It is owned by the National Gallery in London as part of the Lane Bequest but is displayed alternately in London and at the Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane. From May 2013 to 2019, it returned to Dublin for a six-year period. It is now in the National Gallery London.
Currently, the painting is on loan to the Musee d'Orsay in Paris for their Renoir retrospective Renoir et l'amour: La modernité heureuse (1865-1885) From March 17 to July 19, 2026
Two Sisters (On the Terrace) (1881)
Two Sisters (On the Terrace) is an 1881 oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The dimensions of the painting are 100.5 cm × 81 cm. The title Two Sisters (French: Les Deux Sœurs) was given to the painting by Renoir, and the title On the Terrace (French: Sur la terrasse) by its first owner Paul Durand-Ruel.
Renoir worked on the painting on the terrace of the Maison Fournaise, a restaurant located on an island in the Seine in Chatou, the western suburb of Paris. The painting depicts a young woman and her younger sister seated outdoors with a small basket containing balls of wool. Over the railings of the terrace one can see shrubbery and foliage with the River Seine behind it.
In Summer (Renoir) (1868)
In Summer (French: En été) is an 1868 oil-on-canvas painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a portrait of Lise Tréhot aged about 20.
Tréhot was Renoir's companion from about 1866 to 1871. He painted her at least 23 times, including Lise with a parasol, painted in 1867, Renoir's first significant critical success which was admired at the Paris Salon of 1868. This success may have inspired Renoir to paint her again, this time in a more informal style.
Dance in the Country (1883)
Dance in the Country (French: Danse à la campagne) is an 1883 oil painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is currently kept at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
This painting was commissioned in 1882 by the merchant Paul Durand-Ruel who wanted works on the theme of the ball. He bought it in 1886, exhibited it for the first time in April 1883, and kept it until Renoir's death in 1919. Two complementary painting on the same theme, named Dance in the City and Dance at Bougival, were also painted by Renoir the same year.
Portrait of Irène Cahen d'Anvers (1880)
The Portrait of Irène Cahen d’Anvers, or The Little Girl with the Blue Ribbon (French: La Petite Fille au ruban bleu) or Little Irène (French: La Petite Irène), is an oil painting by French Impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The painting is on display in the Foundation E. G. Bührle collection in Zürich.
Commissioned by the wealthy French Jewish banker Louis Cahen d'Anvers in 1880, the painting depicts his daughter Irène Cahen d'Anvers at the age of 8. During World War II, the painting was stolen by the Nazis during their organised looting of European countries. In 1946 it resurfaced and was exhibited in Paris as one of the "French masterpieces found in Germany".
Dance in the City (1883)
Dance in the City is a painting created by the French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Completed in 1883, the artwork is currently housed in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay. The dancers depicted in the painting are Suzanne Valadon, a model and artist, and Paul Auguste Lhôte, a friend of Renoir.
This particular artwork, along with its companion pieces Dance in the Country and Dance at Bougival, was commissioned by the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. All three paintings were executed in 1883 and feature two individuals dancing in different settings. While Aline Charigot, who later became Renoir's wife, modeled for the woman in Dance in the Country, Suzanne Valadon is the model for Dance in the City.
Dance at Bougival (1883)
Dance at Bougival (French: La danse à Bougival) is an 1883 oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, currently in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Described as "one of the museum's most beloved works", it is one of three in a collection commissioned by Paul Durand-Ruel. It depicts a scene in the French village of Bougival, about 15 km from the center of Paris, a site utilized by many Impressionists besides Renoir including Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, and Berthe Morisot.
The painting depicts two dancers surrounded by a lively scene of café goers. The painting's actual subjects are disputed, but it is well known for conveying the sense that they are in motion, making the viewer feel that they are actually there. Renoir used mostly pastel colors, but included a more vibrant hue in the hats of both the subjects. The larger group of paintings to which this one belongs is described as Renoir's last foray in Impressionism, and demonstrates the development of his artistic ability from his earlier works.