The Phillips Collection Announces the Return of Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party
WASHINGTON, DC— Following its historic loan to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris for the exhibition Renoir and Love: A Joyful Modernity (1865–1885), Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party—a cornerstone of The Phillips Collection—returns to public view beginning Tuesday, August 11.
The painting will again be on display in Gallery 201 where guests can experience one of the defining works of Impressionism in its longtime home.
WHERE: The Phillips Collection, Gallery 201, 1600 21st Street NW, Washington, DC
ADMISSION: Included with museum admission
HOURS: The Phillips Collection is open Tuesday–Sunday, 10 am–5 pm, with extended hours on select days
The painting’s return also sets the stage for Feast for the Eyes: Celebrating Renoir at the Phillips (Summer 2027), an unprecedented installation that will reunite Luncheon of the Boating Party with Renoir’s Bal du Moulin de la Galette (1876), on loan from the Musée d’Orsay. Never before shown together in the United States, these two landmark paintings will offer guests a rare opportunity to experience Renoir’s most ambitious multi-figure compositions side by side, highlighting the artist’s vibrant visual language that captured the vitality of modern life.
IMAGE: Guests looking at Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1880–81, Oil on canvas, 51 1/4 x 69 1/8 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, Acquired 1923.
High-resolution press images are available upon request. Media RSVP is required for film crews. Please contact lcantrell@phillipscollection.org.
ABOUT THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION
The Phillips Collection, America’s first museum of modern art, was founded in 1921. The museum houses one of the world’s most celebrated Impressionist and American modern art collections and continues to grow its collection with important contemporary voices. Its distinctive building combines extensive new galleries with the former home of its founder, Duncan Phillips. The Phillips’s impact spreads nationally and internationally through its diverse and experimental special exhibitions and events, including its award-winning education programs for educators, students, and adults; renowned Phillips Music series; and dynamic art and wellness and Phillips after 5 events. The Phillips Collection’s extensive community partnerships include Phillips@THEARC, the museum’s satellite campus in Southeast DC. The Phillips Collection is a private, non-government museum, supported primarily by donations.