Impressionism, a historical reconstruction:

Auguste Renoir

(1841-1919)

Reviews

on the impressionist expositions

Introduction:
On this page you will find summaries of the reviews on Auguste Renoir. Namely on the ‘impressionist’ expositions he joined in 1874, 1876, 1877 and 1882. See the account for a more detailed representation of these reviews.
Note: You will just find the reviews of 1874 +1876. The other reviews will be added later.

Auguste Renoir: 1IE-1874-141, Danseuse = 1874, 1CR110=1F126, SDbr, The Dancer, 142x94, NGA Washington (iRx;R87,p251;R2,p140;R90II,p12+27; R108,CR110;R30=R193,no126;R190,no121;R31,p197;M21,no1942.9.72) Provenance: Durand-Ruel; 1878 Deudon; 1899/03/08 Durand-Ruel. Expos: DR1883-36; DR1899-73; EU-1900-C-561, Une danseuse (1874) (à Mme J. Durand-Ruel); Vienna-EdI-1903-48; London-GG-1905-240; London-GH-1914-67; DR1920-25. — Auguste Renoir: 1IE-1874-141, Danseuse = 1874, 1CR110=1F126, SDbr, The Dancer, 142×94, NGA Washington (iRx;R87,p251;R2,p140;R90II,p12+27; R108,CR110;R30=R193,no126;R190,no121;R31,p197;M21,no1942.9.72) Provenance: Durand-Ruel; 1878 Deudon; 1899/03/08 Durand-Ruel. Expos: DR1883-36; DR1899-73; EU-1900-C-561, Une danseuse (1874) (à Mme J. Durand-Ruel); Vienna-EdI-1903-48; London-GG-1905-240; London-GH-1914-67; DR1920-25.

Auguste Renoir: 1IE-1874-142, La Loge = 1874, 1CR116=1F125, SDbl, The theater box, 80x64cm, Courtauld London (iR2;R87,p251;R2,p107;R90II,p12+28;R1,p334; R108,no116;R30=R193,no125;R190,no120;R31,no26;R231-1+2;M60) Provenance: 1874 Père Martin (425fr); Louis Flornoy; 1899/02 Durand-Ruel till 1925. Expos: London-SFA-1874-12; Nantes-1886-893; DR1892-63; DR1899-74; =EU-1900-C-562, La loge (1874) (à Mme A.F. Aude); 11LE-1904-128; London-GG-1905-251. — Auguste Renoir: 1IE-1874-142, La Loge = 1874, 1CR116=1F125, SDbl, The theater box, 80x64cm, Courtauld London (iR2;R87,p251;R2,p107;R90II,p12+28;R1,p334; R108,no116;R30=R193,no125;R190,no120;R31,no26;R231-1+2;M60) Provenance: 1874 Père Martin (425fr); Louis Flornoy; 1899/02 Durand-Ruel till 1925. Expos: London-SFA-1874-12; Nantes-1886-893; DR1892-63; DR1899-74; = EU-1900-C-562, La loge (1874) (à Mme A.F. Aude); 11LE-1904-128; London-GG-1905-251.

Auguste Renoir: 1IE-1874-143, Parisienne = 1874, CR102, The Parisian girl, 163x108cm, NMW Cardiff (iR6;iR2;R87,p251;R90II,p12+28;R2,p122;R31,no28;R108,CR102;M64). Rouart collection (R45).

1874:
Here you will find a summary of the reviews on the 1st ‘impressionist’ exposition related to Auguste Renoir.
See the link for the art-works he showed in 1874.
Renoir was very often mentioned in the reviews and also often as one of the leading partakers. His Danseuse, Parisienne and Loge are most often mentioned. Prouvaire interprets them as ’the three stages through which the little Parisian ladies commonly pass’ (R90I,p34). Silvestre remarked ’they are sketches and nothing more’ (R90I,p40;R2,p141).

Auguste Renoir: 2IE-1876-212, Étude = CR201, 1876ca, Study, torso of a woman in the sunlight, 81x65, Orsay (iR52;R2,p184+184;R90II,p44+62;R108,no201;R30,no204;M1) — Auguste Renoir: 2IE-1876-212, Étude = CR201, 1876ca, Study, torso of a woman in the sunlight, 81×65, Orsay (iR52;R2,p184+184;R90II,p44+62;R108,no201;R30,no204;M1)

Auguste Renoir: 2IE-1876-214, Tête d'Homme (app. à M. Choquet) =!? 1876, CR175, Victor Chocquet, 46x36, SOR Winterthur (R30,p45=no226;R90II,p44+63;R2,p164;R108,no175;M87) — Auguste Renoir: 2IE-1876-214, Tête d’Homme (app. à M. Choquet) =!? 1876, CR175, Victor Chocquet, 46×36, SOR Winterthur (R30,p45=no226;R90II,p44+63;R2,p164;R108,no175;M87)

Auguste Renoir: 2IE-1876-225, la promenade = 1875-76, CR111, Mother and Children (la promenade), 170x108, Frick New York (iR22;R90II,p45+64;R2,p164;R108,no111;R30,no158;R31,p197;M37). — Auguste Renoir: 2IE-1876-225, la promenade = 1875-76, CR111, Mother and Children (la promenade), 170×108, Frick New York (iR22;R90II,p45+64;R2,p164;R108,no111;R30,no158;R31,p197;M37).

1876:
Here you will find a summary of the reviews on the 2nd ‘impressionist’ exposition related to Auguste Renoir.
See the link for the art-works he showed in 1876.
Auguste Renoir was mentioned in 33 reviews. He often is integrated in small lists of the most important partakers (Rv2+3+17+52+56) Burty (Rv43) calls him ’the most vigorous artist’. Rivière (Rv51) calls him ‘a painter of light’. In several reviews he is labelled as a portraitist or figure painter. Some make clear that his paintings hung in the large second room (Rv16+35+43). Dolent (Rv58) mentions his pastel (no.226); it is possible this one hung in room 1. His nude torso (no.212) is reviewed most often (12x). Some are very negative ‘purplish tones of rotting flesh’ (Rv36+24), others are more positive ‘a delicate model with harmonious colours’ (Rv47), ‘done with superb colours.’ (Rv6). In several reviews his use of colour is criticised (Rv24+29+36+41+42). Still, one remarks ‘Renoir uses a relatively sober coloration.’ (Rv33) and another ‘(Renoir is) a little dull in tone’ (Rv47). Blémont (Rv35) calls no.225 ‘a velvet harmony’. Zola (Rv50+54) praises ‘A range of light tones dominates his work, the transitions between them arranged with superb harmony.’

1877:
Here you will find a summary of the reviews on the 3rd ‘impressionist’ exposition related to Auguste Renoir.
See the link for the art-works he showed in 1877.

1882:
Here you will find a summary of the reviews on the 7th ‘impressionist’ exposition related to Auguste Renoir.
See the link for the art-works he showed in 1882.

Sources:
See the pages on the reviews per year (note only 1874 +1876 is available).
Most of these reviews are gathered by Ruth Berson (1996=R90I).
See at the bottom of the main page on Auguste Renoir.

Recommanded citation: “Impressionism: Auguste Renoir, an overview of the given reviews. Last modified 2026/03/31. https://www.impressionism.nl/renoir-reviews/”

Note: more info will be added.