Renoir and Love Review: The Happiest Exhibition of the Year 2026

Renoir and Love is the happiest exhibition of the year, celebrating Pierre-Auguste Renoir's joyful depictions of dance, lunch, and romance. This review explores why the show at the Royal Academy of Arts (until 12 October 2025) is a must-see for art lovers.

Renoir and Love: A Celebration of Joy

David Hockney once told me, gleefully pointing out the cigarette and cigar butts littering the ground under Renoir's dancers. There are broken clay-pipes too beneath the swirling pink skirts and blue trousers of the couple in his tall, narrow 1883 canvas Dance at Bougival as they bring their faces close, placing their arms around each other and pirouetting in the soft, airy space Renoir makes you feel as well as see. It's an outdoor afternoon dance enclosed by fluffy, lime-coloured trees. A couple sitting at a table get friendlier with each swig of beer. And oh, the lunches! Renoir seems to have invented the slow French lunch, relaxed and liquid, that launched a thousand bistro daydreams.

In After the Luncheon, another one to delight Hockney, we see a white-clothed, open air table neatly arranged with porcelain coffee cups, carafes and glasses – and a woman sipping a liqueur while the bearded man she's lunching with lights up, savouring the moment as his cigarette end glows fire-red against the pale blues, whites and silvers. The Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (The Rowers' Lunch) lingers on the same climactic moment, one man lounging back in tobacco reverie while the lovers or about-to-be-lovers on the other side of the table chat soulfully.

Key Works in the Exhibition

The exhibition brings together over 60 works from public and private collections, including iconic paintings and lesser-known drawings. Here are some highlights:

• Dance at Bougival (1883): A vibrant scene of a couple dancing in a sunlit garden.
• After the Luncheon (1879): A relaxed post-meal moment with coffee and cigarettes.
• The Lunch at the Restaurant Fournaise (1875): A rowing party enjoying lunch by the Seine.
• Two Sisters (On the Terrace) (1881): A charming portrait of two young women on a balcony.

Renoir's Legacy and Influence

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, born in 1841 and lived until 1919, saw the height and fall of the French Impressionist movement. His work continues to inspire artists and viewers alike with its warmth and humanity. The exhibition also includes works by contemporaries like Monet and Pissarro, showing the context of Renoir's joyful vision.

Comparison of Renoir's Major Works

Why This Exhibition Is the Happiest of the Year

Renoir's paintings radiate a sense of joie de vivre that is infectious. The exhibition captures the essence of love, leisure, and the simple pleasures of life. It's a welcome antidote to the often heavy themes in contemporary art. Visitors leave with a smile, feeling uplifted by Renoir's optimistic vision.

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