RENOIR DRAWINGS—ENJOYING THEM FROM AFAR

THE MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM, 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, is a continent away from me, but through electronic wizardry and the Morgan’s kindness, I am able to share these tidbits gleaned from its invitation to “Renoir Drawings,” an exhibit running from October 17, 2025, through February 8, 2026. Together with a selection of Renoir’s works and a downloadable Renoir Drawings Family Guide, there’s an introductory Audio Guide (with Transcription) by Colin B. Bailey, Director of the Morgan Library and Museum.

Far From Casual. Bailey recounts, “After a visit to Renoir’s Paris studio in January 1888, the Impressionist artist Berthe Morisot confided to her diary: ‘Renoir is a draftsman of the first order. It would be interesting to show all these preparatory drawings for a painting to the public, which generally imagines that the Impressionists work in the most casual way.’ ”

That is, these Impressionistic fleeting images of oil on canvas were hardly just improvised; they often evolved through studies on paper in a variety of media.

 “This exhibition,” Bailey describes, “is the first since 1921 to be devoted to Renoir’s drawings, and the first exhibition of its kind to take place in the United States.  It brings together outstanding examples of all the media on paper in which Renoir worked – from pencil, pen and ink, chalk, and pastel to watercolor, etching, and lithography.”

Bailey relates, “The exhibition has been in the planning for nearly seven years, and was inspired by the gift to the Morgan in 2018 of the large red and white chalk drawing, Study for The Great Bathers.  It is a collaboration with the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, where the show will travel next spring.”

Study for The Great Bathers, 1908. Red and white chalk, with smudging and blending, on paper mounted to canvas. The Morgan Library & Museum, Bequest of Drue Heinz, 2018.71.

The Great Bathers, oil on canvas, has resided in the Philadelphia Museum of Art since 1963.  

Dancers (Bougival) or Dance in the Country, 1883. Oil on canvas. The painting resides in the Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Its two dancers are evidently much enamored. Studies on paper show this “fleeting image” took considerable planning. 

One of the studies and the oil portrait appear in the Family Activity Guide. I particularly like the woman’s lovely smile evolving in the portrait.

Child with a Cat or Julie Manet, 1887. Oil on canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. My favorite image of the exhibition; I know for certain that the cat is gently purring.

This image appears in the Family Activity Guide as an example of Portrait Mode. The guide posits, “Imagine you will have your portrait painted. Consider the following questions: What will you wear? What expression will you have? Who (or what) will be in the portrait with you?” 

Next to this sweet image in the guide is an unfilled frame with the encouragement “Draw your self-portrait below!” Were I to choose my pal πwacket, indeed the image would have to be a fleeting one.

Pal πwacket enjoys his personal cat seat. 

Study for “The Judgment of Paris,” c. 1908. Black, red, and white chalk. Three-dimensional art can evolve from two-dimensional planning. Renoir composed this study in 1908 for The Judgement of Paris, in preparation for the patinated plaster work completed by Renoir and Richard Guino in 1914 and residing in Musée d-Orsay.

Gabrielle and Jean, ca. 1895. Black chalk on paper. Son Jean and faithful servant Gabrielle were Renoir subjects more than once. Aren’t they gentle and charming. And imagine Renoir’s joy in preparing these fleeting impressions of love.

Child with an Apple or Gabrielle, Jean, and a Young Girl with an Apple, ca. 1885, pastel.

Thanks, Morgan Library & Museum, for sharing this cross-continent viewing. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025