Renoir

Renoir's paintings arrange portraits and social encounters through figures, dress, and light. In Luncheon of the Boating Party, many sitters were his friends; tables, railings, and exchanged glances connect them within a scene combining figures, still life, and landscape. The Umbrellas organizes a crowded Parisian street around six principal foreground figures. Painted in two stages several years apart, it combines feathery color with firmer outlines, preserving different methods in one canvas.