Exhibition Dates: 3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027
In autumn 2026, the National Gallery will host Renoir and Love, a landmark exhibition dedicated to the celebrated French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919). Featuring over 50 works, this will be the most significant UK exhibition of Renoir’s art in two decades—and the first at the National Gallery since 2007.
Organised in collaboration with the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Renoir and Love will centre on a pivotal period in Renoir’s career, from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s. The exhibition will explore how themes of affection, seduction, friendship, conversation, and the pleasures of social life shaped his art.
Highlights include Renoir’s iconic Bal au Moulin de la Galette (1876, Musée d’Orsay), on view in the UK for the first time, alongside many of his most admired and innovative paintings. The exhibition will bring together works from major institutions and private collections around the world, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Städel Museum, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, the National Gallery of Art (Washington DC), and others.
Christopher Riopelle, co-curator and the National Gallery’s Neil Westreich Curator of Post-1800 Paintings, remarks:
"More than any of his contemporaries, Renoir was devoted to portraying love and friendship in all their informal expressions—as integral to understanding modern life. Whether set on a Paris street or in a leafy glade, his work captures fleeting emotions as vividly as he captured the shifting play of sunlight."
The exhibition will showcase Renoir’s artistic range—from tender portraits and intimate scenes to grand multi-figure compositions set in urban and suburban spaces. Notable works such as The Umbrellas (1881, reworked 1885, National Gallery) and his beloved Dance paintings reflect his move in the early 1880s away from the loose brushwork of Impressionism toward a more sculptural, classical style—while preserving his enduring interest in human connection and joy in nature.
Renoir and Love was initiated by the Musée d’Orsay and will tour three venues:
Musée d’Orsay, Paris: 17 March – 19 July 2026
National Gallery, London: 3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: 20 February – 13 June 2027
This will be a rare and captivating opportunity to see Renoir’s exploration of love, friendship, and the spirit of his time.