A Renoir exhibition will open at the National Gallery in 2026

In autumn 2026, the National Gallery will open Renoir and Love, a landmark exhibition exploring the romantic and social dimensions of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s art. With over 50 masterworks on display, this will be the most significant UK exhibition of the French Impressionist’s work in two decades. Organised in partnership with the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, it marks the first Renoir-focused exhibition at the National Gallery since 2007.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir.Dance at the Moulin de la Galette, 1876. Gustave Caillebotte Bequest, 1896. © Musée d'Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

The exhibition will focus on Renoir’s most formative period, from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s, when he produced some of his most celebrated and daring works. Themes of affection, seduction, camaraderie and joy in everyday life are explored through both intimate scenes and vibrant crowd compositions. Central to the exhibition is Bal au Moulin de la Galette (1876), on loan from the Musée d’Orsay, and being shown in the UK for the first time. Other key paintings, such as Umbrellas (1881, reworked 1885), illustrate Renoir’s transition from impressionistic brushwork to more structured, sculptural forms.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The Promenade, 1870. J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles). Oil on canvas. 81.3 × 64.8 cm. © J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles)

Drawing from major international collections, Renoir and Love will offer an unparalleled opportunity to see some of the artist’s most admired canvases. Visitors can expect loans from the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Norton Simon Art Foundation, the Städel Museum, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and several others. The exhibition will bring together tender portraits, joyful depictions of family and friends, and Renoir’s luminous scenes of Parisian leisure, from café culture to theatre outings and sunlit woodland gatherings.

Co-curator Christopher Riopelle notes that Renoir was uniquely devoted to capturing love and friendship as fleeting and radiant as sunlight itself – a theme central to his visual language. Whether in flirtation, child-rearing, or group celebration, his canvases evoke the emotional currents of modern life. This major exhibition reaffirms Renoir’s place not only as a master of light, but as a chronicler of human connection.

Date: 3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027. Location: The National Gallery,Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN. nationalgallery.org.uk