The National Gallery has opened a new exhibition exploring the theme of love through the works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, offering a fresh perspective on the Impressionist painter’s complex legacy. The show, arriving on Valentine’s Day, aims to highlight a dimension of Renoir’s art often overshadowed by controversy: his portrayal of affection and intimate relationships.
Love as a subject has historically been rare in visual art, particularly the gentle, uplifting feeling often described as infatuation or romantic tenderness. While themes such as desire, fertility, and sexuality have frequently appeared in artistic works, portrayals of personal love have been comparatively scarce. This is largely because love is a deeply individual experience and difficult for artists to authentically capture on behalf of others. It was not until the rise of personal expression in art, well beyond the Renaissance era, that love began to feature more prominently.
A notable precursor to this shift was Peter Paul Rubens in the 17th century, with his ardent depictions of his two wives, Isabella Brant and Helena Fourment, as well as the first demonstrably affectionate representations of children by their father. Such works helped open the door for more personal explorations of affectionate bonds in art.
Renoir’s contribution is situated in this tradition but also challenges current perspectives on his oeuvre. The exhibition opens with a portrait of his fellow Impressionist Frédéric Bazille, capturing the devoted camaraderie between the artists. The warmth conveyed in their relationship is notably platonic yet tender. Renoir’s own complicated reputation—marked by accusations of misogyny, his political views, and criticisms of his depictions of women—frames the show’s more radical attempt to emphasize a softer side of his work.
The exhibition addresses these tensions upfront, providing context on Renoir’s working-class origins, which differentiated him from his mainly middle-class peers. This background is presented as influencing his artistic sensibility, granting his depictions of love an unpolished but sincere quality. Despite ongoing debates and some public opposition to Renoir’s status in the contemporary art world—including past protests by groups critical of his work—the National Gallery's presentation seeks to reintroduce audiences to the painter’s portrayal of warmth, affection, and Parisian joie de vivre.
By focusing on Renoir’s personal and emotional engagements, the exhibition offers a nuanced view of the artist, inviting reconsideration of his place in art history not only as a master of Impressionism but also as a chronicler of human connection and tender emotion.