Renoir Drawings
Musée d’Orsay
- from 17 March to 5 July, 2026
- Esplanade Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 75007 Paris
- musee-orsay.fr
This exhibition, the first dedicated to Renoir’s drawings, highlights the importance of graphic techniques in the evolution of his art.
It also reveals the intimate links between his paintings and drawings, particularly from the 1880s onwards, when Renoir moved away from Impressionism.
Works on paper in the shadow of Renoir’s paintings
While Renoir’s paintings are still considered icons of Impressionism, his drawings, watercolours and pastels remain less well known, partly because his graphic oeuvre is small and heterogeneous, ranging from sketches and preparatory studies to actual portraits and illustration projects.
Yet drawing guided his work from his early exercises in the 1850s and 1860s to his most modern explorations in the 1910s.
Certain works, such as Les Baigneuses. Essai de peinture décorative (The Bathers: An Essay in Decorative Painting) and Maternité (Motherhood), were the subject of multiple studies in pursuit of the perfect form.
At the heart of Renoir’s creative process
The exhibition, which presents around a hundred pieces from around the world, including never-before-seen sketches and several paintings, delves into the intimacy of Renoir’s creative process, exploring his research into light, form and colour.
It highlights the variety of his techniques: graphite, Conté crayon, charcoal, pen and ink, pastels, watercolours and gouaches, with a particular focus on sanguine, a technique favoured from the 1880s onwards for its flexibility, colour and connection with the nude and the masters of the 18th century.
Auguste Renoir
Young Woman Leaning on a Balcony, also known as La Loge
1879
© 2023 Fondation Bemberg / Mathieu Lombard
At the beginning of the 20th century, Renoir’s works on paper impressed many artists, including Bonnard, Picasso and Gauguin, the latter emphasising the distinction between academic drawing and a sense of form, an area in which Renoir excelled: ‘A painter who never knew how to draw but who draws well is Renoir.’
This exhibition is co-organised with the Morgan Library & Museum.
Curators
- Paul Perrin, Chief Curator and Director of Conservation and Collections, Musée d’Orsay
- Colin Bailey, Colin Bailey, Director, Morgan Library & Museum
- Anne Distel, Honorary Chief Curator of Heritage, Musée d’Orsay
- With the collaboration of Sarah Lees, Research Associate to the Director, Morgan Library & Museum and Cloé Viala, Documentary Studies Officer, Musée d’Orsay
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