The rowers' breakfast
Pierre-Auguste Renoir , 1880–81
130 × 173 cm
oil on canvas
Phillips Collection , Washington, DC
The rowers' breakfast ( French Le déjeuner des canotiers ) is a painting by the French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir from 1880–81 . The 130 × 173 cm picture, painted in oil on canvas, shows a group portrait of his friends on the terrace of the Fournaise restaurant in Chatou . The restaurant that still exists today is located directly on the Seine , which can be seen in the background. The painting is one of the artist's main works and, in terms of its style and color, is a typical example of Impressionist painting . The Rowers Breakfast is in the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC
The people pictured
The identity of the people depicted has long been debated between art historians. One of the earliest investigations is Julius Meier-Graefe's research work from 1912, which largely corresponds to the records in the archive of the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruels . In addition, the artist's son, Jean Renoir , provided important information about the people depicted. The various conclusions were finally summarized in 1981 by the art historian Martha Carey on behalf of the Phillips Collection.
In the picture to the left of the table is Aline Charigot , who is busy with her dog in the picture. She had only recently met Renoir and later became his wife. Behind her stands Jules-Alphonse Fournaise leaning against the parapet. He was the son of the restaurant owner and was responsible for renting boats for the excursion restaurant. Only he and the young man seated across from him are shown in the clothes customary for boat sports enthusiasts at the time. This man, sitting to the right of the table, with his hands on the back of the chair, is the painter Gustave Caillebotte , who in this picture appears a little younger than he was actually 1880. In addition to painting, Caillebotte also devoted himself intensively to rowing and sailing. The woman to his left who has her eyes fixed on him is the actress Angèle Legault. The Italian journalist Adrien Maggiolo bends over these two people.
Behind Maggiolo there is a group of three people. The woman on the right edge of the picture who seems to be covering her ears is the actress Jeanne Samary . Renoir has portrayed them in various portraits. Right next to her, with the light-colored hat, the painter Paul Lhote has turned his face to her. Eugène-Pierre Lestringuez, another friend of Renoir, is the man in the dark hat. The identity of the male to the left of Maggiolo's shoulder is unclear, and can only be seen as a profile. There are different assumptions about the female person who is drinking from a glass. Angèle Legault's model could have sat here again, or, as Jean Renoir claimed, the actress Ellen Andrée may have been shown. The two men behind this drinking woman are the art writer Charles Ephrussi , who was added late into the composition when viewed from behind . Opposite him is possibly his secretary, the poet Jules Laforgue .
Also from the rear is the man with a round hat at the end of the table who has been identified as Baron Raoul Barbier. He fixed his gaze on the woman at the end of the balustrade, whose identity has also not been clearly established. It could be Louise-Alphonsine Fournaise, the daughter of the restaurant owner and sister of the man standing in front of the parapet. Like her brother, she would have been readily available as a model in Chatou, unlike Renoir's friends, who had to travel specially from Paris for the portrait sessions.
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The painting in the film
In the movie Amélie by Jean-Pierre Jeunet , the painting every year from a painter with a brittle bone disease repainted.
literature
- Julius Meier-Graefe: History of the development of modern art . Piper, Munich 1966/1987, ISBN 3-492-10662-5 .
- Martha Carey: Pierre-Auguste Renoir: The luncheon of the boating party . The Artists Limited Edition, New York 1981.
- Anne Distel (Ed.): Renoir . Exhibition catalog London, Paris, Boston 1985–86. Édition de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris 1985, ISBN 2-7118-2000-9 .
- Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark, Dorothee Hansen, Gry Hedin: Across the water - Gustave Caillebotte . Exhibition catalog Bremen, Charlottenlund, Madrid, German edition Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2008, ISBN 978-3-7757-2190-5 .
Individual evidence
- ^ "The fabulous world of Amélie": Gigantic fortune cookie , Spiegel-Online from August 16, 2001