“The Luncheon of the Boating Party,” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. (1880-81)
Many of you will recognize this impressionist masterpiece.
Technically, this is a great painting. Forget that. Get inside this dreamy scene. It’s a breezy Sunday afternoon. After rowing down the Seine with your friends – see the river in the background? – you stop at a charming little French café for a good meal in the fresh air.
Edward G. Robinson (1893-1973), actor and collector of fine art, loved this painting, known in French as Le déjeuner des canotiers. Robinson once said:
“For over thirty years I made periodic visits to Renoir’s ‘The Luncheon of the Boating Party’ in a Washington museum, and stood before that magnificent masterpiece hour after hour, day after day, plotting ways to steal it.” (wiki)
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