Renoir and Love opens at the National Gallery with a UK premiere

Renoir and Love opens at the National Gallery in London today. The exhibition runs in the Sainsbury Wing until 31 January 2027. It brings together 45 paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, according to the gallery.

The gallery calls it the most significant Renoir exhibition in the UK for 20 years. It is also the first dedicated Renoir show at the National Gallery since 2007. The gallery’s press release sets out the plan.

What Renoir and Love sets out to show

The show focuses on the years from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s. Its theme is love in its many forms. That includes desire, flirtation, friendship and family bonds. Co-curator Chiara Di Stefano says the work “sketches a joyful and light-hearted portrait of modern romance in 19th-century Paris”.

The exhibition is arranged in six rooms. They move from early scenes of modern life to gallant scenes that update Rococo traditions. Later rooms cover café and street life, suburban Paris, family scenes and theatre boxes. The final room marks Renoir’s move away from Impressionism.

The loans are a major draw. Dance at the Moulin de la Galette, painted in 1876, comes from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The gallery describes its appearance as a UK premiere. Artprice calls it an exceptional loan and a synthesis of Renoir’s ambitions.

Other highlights include The Umbrellas from the National Gallery’s own collection. The Great Bathers comes from the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Children’s Afternoon at Wargemont arrives from the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

The show is a joint project. It was first shown at the Musée d’Orsay from 17 March to 19 July 2026. It will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from 20 February to 13 June 2027, Artprice reported.

London’s autumn calendar is crowded. We also covered the opening of the Korea exhibition at the British Museum. Together they offer very different views of how art records human feeling.

Admission is charged. Visitors should check the gallery’s website for current prices and booking details.

Fact basis: National Gallery press release; Artprice News; Londonist exhibition listings, October 2026.