Description
This painting consists of a scene that has no history or symbolism. The scene takes place on the terrace of the Fournaise restaurant on the Island of Chatou, just west of Paris on the Siena River. At that time this was an outdoor restaurant where the population of Paris could go by taking a train. That way they escaped the dust and noise of the city for a day of relaxation and fresh air.
An interesting curiosity about the painting Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir is that it took the artist several years to complete it, due to the many changes he made to the composition and the many characters he included in the scene. In addition, it is said that the artist used his friends and acquaintances as models for the characters that appear in the work. For example, the woman seated in the foreground, on the left, is the actress and model Nini López, who was a close friend of Renoir's at the time. The painting, completed in 1881, is a key work of Impressionism and depicts a scene from Parisian social life at the time, showing a group of friends enjoying lunch on a boat on the banks of the Seine River.
Another interesting detail about Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party is that the painting was purchased by Swiss art collector Jonas Netter in 1923, and later sold to Swiss businessman Emil Georg Bührle in 1949. Following Bührle's death in 1956, the work was donated to the Zurich Museum of Art, where it is currently on public display. The painting is considered one of the most iconic works by Renoir and the Impressionist movement, and has been the subject of numerous interpretations and analysis by art critics and experts.
Luncheon of the Boating Party is ranked no. 10 on the list of famous paintings