Guided tours of the major exhibition: "Renoir and Love. A Happy Modernity (1863-1885)"

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) is one of the key figures of Impressionism, and his innovative approach to representing the world, which Edmond Duranty dubbed "the new painting" in 1876, is a defining characteristic. Born in Limoges, he came from a modest background before his family moved to Paris in 1844. There, he returned as an apprentice in a porcelain painting workshop, and later in a workshop specializing in painting fans, blinds, and wooden panels. Although one of its leading figures, he distinguished himself by his focus on love and affection, particularly scenes of family, flirtation, and friendship. Under his brush, these tender exchanges took on a form as modern as that of the city of Paris itself, which, at the end of the 19th century, was undergoing profound urban and cultural transformations.

This exhibition focuses on three pivotal decades in the early years of his career (from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s), as during this period Renoir explored various spaces conducive to social interaction: gardens, the banks of the Seine, cafés, theaters, and wide boulevards (newly opened in the French capital), boldly breaking with the notion that intimacy could only be found in the boudoir.

Friendships, camaraderie, games of seduction, but also maternal tenderness, are all prisms that the artist transcribed with his luminous, airy brush, so close to daylight and therefore, to life itself.

To learn more about some of the secrets of this painter, sometimes relegated to the label of "the joyful painter," I offer a guided tour of approximately 1.5 hours, either privately or in a group. Please feel free to contact me for more information. This visit is accessible to people with physical disabilities, as the museum has lifts and disabled access.