CINCINNATI.- The Cincinnati Art Museum unveiled today a major new acquisition: Brouillard à Guernsey (Fog at Guernsey) by celebrated French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The most expensive painting that the Museum has purchased, this work was acquired by private sale and is the only painting by Renoir in the collection.

“Brouillard à Guernsey is one of our most important acquisitions in recent years and is a very significant addition to our collection,” noted Timothy Rub, Director of the Cincinnati Art Museum.

The Museum holds landscape paintings by many important 19th century French painters in its collection, including Monet, Pissarro, Bazille and Sisley, but, until now, held no paintings by Renoir.

“This acquisition completes the picture of Impressionism for our visitors and enables them to not only enjoy a wonderful painting by Renoir but also to understand the seminal role he played in the development of Impressionism,” said Rub.

Painted in the summer of 1883 during a period when Renoir created some of his most accomplished landscapes, Brouillard à Guernsey is an evocative depiction of fog hovering over the water of the Moulin Huet Bay – a popular resort off the southern coast of the Isle of Guernsey – and the early morning sunlight striking the cliffs beyond. This painting is one of only four finished landscapes that Renoir painted during his visit to Guernsey. Others from this series are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

“With its adventurous palette of bright colors and the varied brushstrokes Renoir employed to capture the transient effects of light and atmosphere, this painting is a superb example of his artistry and the unique contribution he made to the development of Impressionism,” said Betsy Wieseman, Curator of European Paintings and Sculpture at the Museum.

The painting is on display to the public effective today. Admission to the Museum’s permanent collection is free every day, made possible by The Lois and Richard Rosenthal Foundation.