LONDON.- In autumn 2026 the National Gallery stages a major exhibition of paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919).

With 45 works Renoir and Love (3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027) is the most significant exhibition of the French Impressionist’s work in the UK for 20 years.

The first exhibition devoted to the artist at the National Gallery since 2007, Renoir and Love features some of his most experimental, ambitious and admired canvases including the iconic Dance at the Moulin de la Galette (1876, Musée d’Orsay, Paris), exhibited in the UK for the first time.

Organised in partnership with the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Renoir and Love focuses on the crucial years of the artist’s career, from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s. More than one third of the canvasses he painted in these two pivotal decades are scenes of modern love and social interactions. Often staged in Paris’s new public spaces, these depictions are remarkable for their embrace of human sociability.

The exhibition traces the evolution of the imagery of love, desire, affection, flirtation, friendship and family bonds in Renoir’s art.

Exhibition co-curator Chiara Di Stefano says: ‘Eschewing anecdote, drama or sentimentality, Renoir sketches a joyful and light-hearted portrait of modern romance in 19th century Paris, where the celebration of youth, beauty and sensual pleasure takes centre stage.’

Exhibition co-curator Christopher Riopelle says: ‘More than any of his contemporaries, Renoir was committed to chronicling love and friendship and their informal manifestations as keys to modern life. Whether on Parisian street corners or in sun-dappled woodlands, he understood that emotion could be as fleeting, as evanescent, as blinding, as his other great and transitory subject, sunlight itself.’

Such themes are explored from intimate and personal works to beguiling multi-figure compositions of urban and suburban sociability. Several full-length figure compositions such as The Umbrellas (1881, reworked 1885, The National Gallery) show how Renoir often develops the theme on a large scale. His Dance compositions remain universally loved symbols of the French fin-de-siècle.

Loans come from private collections and museums around the world. The first room of the exhibition explores the artist’s early years and includes Mother Antony’s Tavern, 1866 (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm). Treating a scene of everyday life with the solemnity of large-scale painting (a format traditionally reserved for mythological and religious themes), Renoir makes a powerful statement about modern art and its new subjects.

The second room focuses on Renoir’s gallant scenes of the 1870s. Considering himself as the heir of French 18th century tradition, in the vein of Fragonard, Watteau and Boucher, Renoir updates the rococo iconography of the fêtes galantes (courtship parties). The Promenade, 1870 (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) and the Dance at the Moulin de la Galette, 1876 (Musée d’Orsay, Paris) are among the greatest examples of this genre.

Highlights of the third section, focusing on street and café scenes include La Place Clichy, 1880 (The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) and Leaving the Conservatory, 1876–77 (The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia).

Room Four is dedicated to depictions of life in the outskirts of Paris and features Oarsmen at Chatou, 1879 (National Gallery of Art, Washington), Dance in the Country, 1883 (Musée d’Orsay, Paris); Dance at Bougival, 1883 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston),The Luncheon, 1875 (The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia) and Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (The Rowers’ Lunch), 1875 (Art Institute of Chicago).

Room Five is devoted to scenes of family life. There, visitors are able to see Sketches of Heads (The Berard Children), 1881 (Clark Art Institute, Williamstown) and Children’s Afternoon at Wargemont, 1884 (Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin). On display in this room is also an intimate painting of which Renoir was particularly fond, Motherhood, 1885 (Musée d’Orsay, Paris), capturing his future wife Aline Charigot nursing their first son Pierre.

The sixth room looks at Renoir’s depictions of intellectual intimacy and physical proximity. This section includes The Conversation, 1878 (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm) and At Renoir’s Home, Rue Saint-Georges, 1876 (Norton Simon Museum, Norton Simon Art Foundation, Pasadena). A small focus on Renoir’s theatre box scenes, featuring A Box at the Theatre (At the Concert), 1880 (Clark Art Institute, Williamstown) will also be presented.

From 1883 the artist moved away from Impressionist style with its fascination with the ephemeral play of light to more solid, sculptural compositions. At the same time, his favourite motifs shifted from scenes of modern Parisian life to classical, timeless themes. A highlight of the final room of the exhibition is The Great Bathers, 1884–7 (Philadelphia Museum of Art) which marks the end of Renoir’s Impressionist season and the beginning of a new phase in his career.

The exhibition was initiated by the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, and is organised by the Musée d’Orsay, the National Gallery and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It is shown at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris (17 March – 19 July 2026); the National Gallery, London (3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027); and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (20 February – 13 June 2027.)