© National Gallery
© National Gallery
Renoir and Love
3 October 2026 to 31 January 2027
Critic score
Forty paintings drawn from global collections — including Bal au Moulin de la Galette (1876) from the Musée d'Orsay, on UK display for the first time — frame Renoir's 1860s–1880s peak as an Impressionist innovator, shown alongside tender scenes of dance halls, gardens and friendship.
From National Gallery
Fall in love with Renoir and his Impressionist paintings at the National Gallery. Discover Renoir's gift for showing love, friendship, and everyday emotion in this Impressionist exhibition. See couples waltzing in the summer air and lovers stealing a glance, families sharing a quiet moment and friends raising a glass, all through the eyes of an artist unmatched in capturing the complexities of how people connect. Experience Renoir at his peak in the 1860s to 1880s,...
Read more at National Gallery →Critic Reviews (4)
The Guardian
Jonathan Jones
The happiest exhibition of the year? Pourquoi pas!
"But in Pierre-Auguste’s paintings, there’s no punishment. Nobody gets syphilis or drinks themselves to death, or drowns in the Seine. This is the happiest art exhibition of the year."
Read full review →The Telegraph
Alastair Sooke
No, Renoir isn't kitsch nonsense
"Surely, even an inveterate Renoir sceptic would agree: on this evidence, happy art doesn’t have to be vapid and dumb. This is life-affirming, pulse-quickening, sap-stirring stuff."
Read full review →The Times
Laura Freeman
The total effect is stupefying
"The interpretation is valiant, trawling the paintings for interest, but the total effect is stupefying, every painting too rich yet unsatisfying, like eating course after course of French custard flan. Am I hard-hearted? I don’t think so."
Read full review →The Observer
Laura Cumming
Pure kitsch
"Plump nudes, flaccid and deboned; rosy cheeked flower sellers; sweetly smiling blonds waltzing with their lovers. Girls everywhere, biddable and benign, and without a trace of depth or personality."
Read full review →About the Artist
Visit
Trafalgar Square, London·View on artmap
Sunday10am–6pm
Monday10am–6pm
Tuesday10am–6pm
Wednesday10am–6pm
Thursday10am–6pm
Friday10am–9pm
Saturday10am–6pm
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