Modern: Renoir's World On Screen

Pierre-Auguste Renoir is a name that the majority of us easily associates with the Impressionist movement of the second half of the 19th century.
Without any doubt, the well-known French painter can be described as one of the major figures that had a substantial impact on the French art movement and its development. With more than approximately 7000 artworks in total, Renoir’s body of work comprises various different artworks.
However, Renoir definitely belongs to the category of artists that split opinions and provoked the crowds with his works of art – and he certainly still does!

His early works were typically Impressionist snapshots of real life, full of sparkling colour and light and depicted scenes of modern or rather ordinary life.

The Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881, The Phillips Collection.

However, by the mid-1880s he had broken with the movement to apply a more disciplined, formal technique to portraits and figure paintings, particularly of nude women. At this point in his career, Renoir was searching for the eternal, the stable and the monumental and tried to express his new approach in his paintings.

The Large Bathers, 1887, Philadelphia Museum of Art.

In order to pay tribute to the artist’s admirable talent, Renoir – Revered and Reviled, a new feature-length film explores “the painter’s controversial ‘late period’, providing a refreshing look at his personality and touching upon the long standing debate related to Renoir’s artistic merits”.
High-quality art paired with cosiness? Yes, that is possible thanks to Exhibition on Screen.

Martha Lucy & Barbara Buckley at The Barnes Foundation © EXHIBITION ON SCREEN.

You think you know Renoir already? Well, Renoir – Revered and Reviled will teach you better.
Based on the world’s largest Renoir collection at The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, the film reveals “the little-told history of the museum and that of his founder”. Dr. Albert Coombs Barnes was not only a physician, chemist and businessman but also a very passionate collector of Renoir’s art.

Thanks to Renoir – Revered and Reviled, a large audiences will get the chance to gain a very exclusive and unlimited access to the 181 artworks which have never been available in the UK before. On top of that, the film gives multiple very exclusive behind-the-scenes insights by featuring comments from leading curators, well-known art critics as well as passionate artists. By doing this, the film creates a comprehensive insight into the French artist’s creativity and enables the spectator to fully experience the fantastic world of Renoir.

Renoir – Revered and Reviled is going to be released in cinemas nationwide on the 16th of February 2016.
The official trailer acts as a little teaser. Unquestionably, the trailer already shows what you can expect from this brilliant documentary.