Renoir. The painter and his models

The project originated with the Hungarian National Gallery’s recent acquisition of Nu couché (Gabrielle) [Reclining Nude (Gabrielle)] painted in 1903. The museum had been unable to acquire the painting when it was exhibited at Hungary’s National Salon in 1907, and it finally came into its collections in 2019. This masterpiece from Renoir’s mature years is one of a group of three large-scale reclining nudes conserved in Musées d’Orsay and de l’Orangerie’s collections (Grand nu [Large Nude], 1907, and Femme nue couchée (Gabrielle) [Nude Woman Reclining (Gabrielle)], circa 1906). The unprecedented reunion of these three works, enabled by this collaboration between Paris and Budapest, is the exhibition’s departure point.

Of all the impressionist painters, Auguste Renoir was unquestionably the one most attached to the human figure. Aligned with the impressionist movement’s “figure painters” by the critic Théodore Duret in 1878. The exhibition covers the whole of Renoir’s career. Together, the works from Musée d’Orsay’s and Musée de l’Orangerie outstanding collections enable a broad-based chronological-thematic approach covering portraits, scenes of modern life and updated gallant scenes, family and everyday life scenes, and finally, Renoir, master of the nude. Works from the Budapest National Gallery, along with several external loans, round off the presentation, broadening the dialogue between these remarkable collections.