Luncheon of the Boating Party is an oil painting produced between 1880 and 1881 by French painter Pierre Auguste Renoir.
in 1882, three critics identified this painting as one of the best paintings in the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition show.
The portrait depicts a scene from the Maison Fournaise along the Seine River in Chatou, France where Pierre Auguste Renoir group of friends were relaxing on a balcony in a boat. Pierre Auguste Renoir shows the combining figures, still life of France and the landscape, combining all in one work. Gustave Caillebotte was seated in the lower right of the picture who was the painter and art patron of Renoir. Aline Chariot was shown playing with a small dog in the foreground who was Renoir’s future wife. There was a table and it had some fruits and wine.
In 1882, three critics identified this painting as one of the best painting in the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition
The picture shows the French society changing character from the mid to late of the 19th century. The restaurant welcomes many customers of different classes; some of the major ones include artists, actresses, writers, businessmen, society women, critics, and some shop girls. There were two half of the picture, one was densely packed with figures but the other was empty. There were two important figures, one of Louise-Alphonsine Fournaise, the proprietor’s daughter, and the other was her brother named as Alphonse Fournaise Jr.
Renoir had captured a great deal of light which was coming from the large opening in the balcony. It seems that Renoir composed this complicated scene in one place without advance studies about the subject or underdrawing. He spent months making several changes to the portrait by painting the individual figures only when his models were available at that time. He then also added the striped awning along the top edges of the picture.
The work can be viewed at The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC