This autumn, the National Gallery will stage Renoir and Love, a major exhibition devoted to Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It will be on view from 3 October 2026 to 31 January 2027. Bringing together 45 works, this marks the most significant presentation of the artist’s paintings in the UK in two decades, and the first exhibition dedicated to him at the museum since 2007. Organised in partnership with the Musée d’Orsay and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the show focuses on the pivotal years between the mid-1860s and mid-1880s, when scenes of modern love and sociability became central to Renoir’s art.
At the heart of the exhibition are celebrated works such as Dance at the Moulin de la Galette (1876), shown in the UK for the first time, alongside large-scale compositions including The Umbrellas (1881–85). Moving from early scenes of everyday life to bustling images of cafés, theatres and suburban leisure, the exhibition traces Renoir’s sustained engagement with affection, flirtation, friendship and family life. Paintings such as Dance at Bougival (1883), The Promenade (1870) and The Conversation (1878) demonstrate how he reimagined the rococo fête galante for modern Paris, capturing fleeting moments of intimacy with a lightness that mirrors his fascination with sunlight itself.
The final section turns to the mid-1880s, when Renoir began shifting away from Impressionism’s emphasis on atmosphere towards more solid and sculptural forms. The inclusion of The Great Bathers (1884–87) signals this transition, closing the exhibition on a work that points beyond the spontaneity of his earlier scenes toward a more classical ambition. Together, the paintings offer a look at how Renoir positioned love and human connection at the centre of modern life.
