Renoir and His Friends

Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party not only conveys the light-hearted leisurely mood of the Maison Fournaise, but also reflects the character of mid- to late-nineteenth century French social structure. The restaurant welcomed customers of many classes including bourgeois businessmen, society women, artists (Renoir and Caillebotte), actresses, writers (Guy de Maupassant), critics and, with the new, shorter work week--a result of the industrial revolution--seamstresses and shop girls. This diverse group embodied a new, modern Parisian society that accepted, as it continued to develop and advanced the French Revolution's promise of  liberté, egalité, fraternité.

With a masterful use of gesture and expression, Renoir painted youthful, idealized portraits of his friends and colleagues who frequented the Maison Fournaise. In the background and wearing a top hat, the wealthy amateur art historian, collector, and editor of the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Charles Ephrussi (no. 8) speaks with a younger man wearing a more casual brown coat and cap who may be Jules Laforgue (no. 5), the poet, critic, and personal secretary to Ephrussi. In the center, the actress Ellen Andrée (no. 6) drinks from a glass, while seated across from her and dressed in a brown bowler hat, Baron Raoul Barbier (no. 4), a bon vivant and former mayor of colonial Saigon, faces the smiling woman leaning on the railing thought to be Alphonsine Fournaise (no. 3), the daughter of the proprietor. Wearing traditional straw boaters' hats, both she, and her brother, Alphonse Fournaise Jr. (no. 2), who was responsible for the boat rentals and stands at the far left of the composition, are placed within, but at the edge, of the party.

Also sporting boaters' hats are the artist Paul Lhote (no. 12) and the bureaucrat Eugène Pierre Lestringez (no. 11). These close friends of Renoir, who often modeled for his paintings, seem to be flirting with the fashionably dressed, famous actress Jeanne Samary (no. 13) in the upper right-hand corner. Lhote is not the only artist represented in Luncheon of the Boating Party; Renoir also included a youthful portrait of his fellow artist, close friend and wealthy patron, Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) (no. 9), who sits backwards in his chair in the right foreground and is grouped with the actress Angèle Legault (no. 7) and the Italian journalist Maggiolo (no. 10). Caillebotte, an avid boatman and sailor who painted many images of these activities, is portrayed in a white boater's shirt and flat-topped straw boater's hat. Caillebotte gazes across the table at a young woman, affectionately cooing at her dog, who is Aline Charigot (no. 1), the young seamstress Renoir had recently met and would later marry.

Aline Charigot (no.1)

The artist Renoir included his future wife, the twenty-one-year-old Aline Charigot (1859–1915), as the woman cooing to her dog. A seamstress and milliner (hat maker), Charigot had moved to Paris from Essoyes, a town east of the capital, as a teenager. Luncheon of the Boating Party was painted early in the
couple’s relationship and is one of Renoir’s first paintings of her. The Maison Fournaise became a favorite meeting place for the new couple where Charigot loved to row and dance. Renoir distinguished Charigot from the rest of the painting’s cast in many ways. For example, she is the only person who does not flirt with someone else, but instead focuses on her dog, a traditional symbol of fidelity. Renoir also embellishes her attire with much care and detail: her dress is well made and adorned with lace while her hat brims with ornament. Lush reds and oranges, brilliantly painted, further accentuate her presence in the painting. Luncheon of the Boating Party was not the only time that Renoir painted Charigot. He continued to portray her throughout their life together, often in dance scenes or maternal images with their children. Aline is wearing a long blue dress with red collar trim and a white long-sleeved blouse with ruffled neckline. She also wears a flowered bonnet hat, decorated with purple and red flowers. For the tableau vivant, a stuffed pet terrier/poodle would work out well.

Jules-Alphonse Fournaise Jr. (no.2)

Placed along the railing are Jules-Alphonse Fournaise (1848–1910) and his sister Louise-Alphonsine (1846–1937), children of the restaurant’s proprietor. Alphonse, as he was known, operated the boating rentals
and is dressed here in rowing attire that emphasizes his muscular physique. Jules is wearing a sleeveless white Henley undershirt with a straw boating hat; the brim is turned up and has blue trim along edge. He is wearing blue boating pants, probably flannel.

Louise-Alphonsine Fournaise (no. 3)

Jules-Alphonse Fournaise (1848–1910) and his sister Louise-Alphonsine (1846–1937) were two children of the restaurant’s proprietor. Louise-Alphonsine managed the restaurant at the Maison Fournaise. She was known as the life of the party, singing with guests until the end of the evening. Renoir positioned her and her brother along the railing overlooking the Seine river, separate from their patrons but also engaged with the convivial crowd. Throughout his life Renoir maintained a warm relationship with the Fournaise family. He painted them several times, often offering portraits as payment for his meals. Alphonsine is wearing a white dress with red trim, a straw boating hat with the brim turned down, and with a blue band and trim. She is French middle class, between 34-35 years old, single and very pretty!

Baron Raoul Barbier (no. 4)

Baron Raoul Barbier is the man sporting a brown bowler hat with his back turned to the viewer. A cavalry officer, Barbier had been mayor of Saigon (in present-day Vietnam) at the beginning of the French occupation of southeast Asia in the 1860s. Barbier was a good friend of Renoir’s. The two met at the Maison Fournaise in 1876 after the Baron’s return to France. “The star dancer was Barbier,” Renoir told his son Jean. “When he started whirling your mother around, everybody stopped to watch them” (Renoir 1962, 217). The Baron was known as a bon vivant who liked dancing with the ladies, drinking wine, and horse racing. It is not surprising, therefore, that Renoir painted him chatting with the pretty Louise-Alphonsine Fournaise. When Renoir initially proposed creating Luncheon of the Boating Party, the Baron enthusiastically volunteered to organize their friends to pose. Baron Barbier is wearing a brown suit coat, a white shirt, and a brown bowler hat.

Jules Laforgue (no. 5)

Donning a fisherman’s cap, the young poet Jules Laforgue (1860–1887) is engaged in conversation with Charles Ephrussi. Laforgue’s roundabout path into the art world began when he failed the French college entrance exam three times. Soon after Luncheon of the Boating Party was finished, Ephrussi hired the twenty one-year-old Laforgue as his part-time personal secretary. Laforgue became a writer for several magazines and was well-known as a critic and poet. Jules is wearing a black or blue fisherman’s hat, a brown coat, a blue shirt, and a dark blue tie.

Ellen Andrée (no. 6)

Dressed in a flowered boating hat, Ellen Andrée brings a glass to her lips. She is the only person in the painting to look directly at the viewer. Andrée was an actress at the Théâtre des Variétés and at the cutting-edge Théâtre-Libre, where she performed the plays of Henrik Ibsen. She was one of Degas’ favorite models, made famous in his painting L’Absinthe (1875–6). Andrée also modeled for the House of Worth, the famous English design house, and posed for fashion photographs. A good friend of Renoir and Aline Charigot, Andrée at one point offered to give the young Charigot a makeover to polish her country manners. Ellen is wearing a flowered bonnet hat with white/red flower, a blue dress and a long-sleeved blouse with a ruffled collar.

Angèle Legault (no. 7)

Seated across from Caillebotte is Renoir’s friend Angèle Legault. Legault was an actress at the Théâtre de la Gaité in such roles as Venus in Orpheus in the Underworld. In a publicity photograph taken by the famous photographer Félix Nadar, the young actress’s beauty and hourglass figure are emphasized. Angele is wearing a white cloche bell hat with blue piping, blue dress. White ruffled lace long-sleeved blouse with red embroidery in lace.

Charles Ephrussi (no. 8)

Placed in the background, Renoir included Charles Ephrussi (1849–1905), dressed as a sophisticated urbanite complete with a top hat. Around the time of the painting, Ephrussi was an important figure in the Paris art world and one that contemporary viewers would have recognized in Luncheon of the Boating Party. A wealthy collector from a family of bankers, he was also a critic and editor of the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, a prominent art journal that published an important article about the impressionists in 1880. Charles is wearing a black tux/hunting coat, a white dress shirt with a blue silk ascot. Black top hat completes his upper class style.

Gustave Caillebotte (no. 9)

Artist Gustave Caillebotte (1848–1894) casually holds a cigarette as he sits backward in his chair in the foreground of Luncheon of the Boating Party. Renoir’s prominent portrayal of Caillebotte was not arbitrary but represents his importance in the impressionist circle. Caillebotte was both a wealthy patron of the impressionists and gifted painter. He met Renoir in 1876, and they became friends. Within the year, Caillebotte exhibited with the impressionists and asked Renoir to serve as the executor of his will. Later Renoir would ask Caillebotte to be the godfather of his first son, Pierre. Caillebotte was an avid sportsman. Trained as an engineer, he designed and built his own boats which he rowed and sailed frequently. About the time that Renoir was painting Luncheon of the Boating Party, Caillebotte bought a house overlooking the Seine river not far from Chatou. It is not surprising, therefore, that Renoir depicted his friend in typical boating attire—a sleeveless white T-shirt, blue flannel pants, and a straw boater’s hat. In the 1880s, Caillebotte’s flat-topped straw hat with a blue ribbon would have been recognized as one worn only by members of an elite boating club called the Cercle Nautique de la Voile (nautical circle for sailing). Caillebotte also captured a fondness for the sport in several of his own paintings, depicting boating along the Seine river, weekend rowers, and skilled sportsmen. Upon his death, Caillebotte willed his collection of paintings to France. As executor, Renoir administered the bequest, which included many famous French impressionist paintings (among them Renoir’s own Ball at the Moulin de la Galette). Many of these works are now in the collection of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Gustave is wearing a straw boating hat with black ribbon banding, a white sleeveless Henley shirt and blue flannel pants.

Adrien Maggiolo (no. 10)

Above Caillebotte and Legault, the Italian journalist Adrien Maggiolo leans toward the actress. Maggiolo wrote for a new and very popular satirical magazine called Le Triboulet (king’s dunce) that commented on theater and cabaret in Paris. Adrien is wearing a navy white sweater jacket with blue ribbing; white collared shirt; blue crewneck sweater.

Eugène Pierre Lestringez (no. 11)

The bearded Lestringuez, who wears a bowler hat in the painting, had known the artist since childhood. Soon after the completion of Luncheon of the Boating Party, Lhote, Lestringuez, Charigot, and Renoir traveled together to Algeria, and Lhote and Lestringuez were witnesses at Renoir’s wedding to Charigot in 1890. Both men were also frequent subjects in Renoir’s work of the 1870s, including Ball at the Moulin de la Galette and The Dance in the Country. Eugene is wearing a black bowler hat, a brown coat, a white collared shir and a blue silk tie.

Paul Lhote (no. 12)

Two gentlemen joke with Jeanne Samary in Luncheon of the Boating Party. One was Paul Lhote, a writer who enjoyed parties at the Maison Fournaise, where he sang choruses with Louise- Alphonsine Fournaise into the evening. Lhote was a close friend of Renoir. Soon after the completion of Luncheon of the Boating Party, Lhote, Lestringuez, Charigot, and Renoir traveled together to Algeria, and Lhote and Lestringuez were witnesses at Renoir’s wedding to Charigot in 1890. Both men were also frequent subjects in Renoir’s work of the 1870s, including Ball at the Moulin de la Galette and The Dance in the Country, in which Lhote dances with Charigot. Paul is wearing a straw boating hat with a red band and a white/grey shirt with red horizontal stripes.

Jeanne Samary (no. 13)

In the top-right corner of Renoir’s composition, the famous Parisian actress Jeanne Samary (1857–1890) covers her ears while two gentlemen flirt and tease her. At the time that Luncheon of the Boating Party was painted, Samary was twenty-three years old and at the height of her popularity with the
Comédie Française. In the theater photograph, Samary takes the stage in the Molière play Amphitryon.

In the summer of 1880, Samary was embroiled in a personal scandal. Her engagement to Marie-Joseph-Paul Lagarde, the son of a prominent businessman, was famously denounced by her fiancé’s family. The controversy was reported in several Parisian newspapers, and to escape the prying eyes of Paris, Samary sought privacy in the suburbs near Chatou. The couple later married in November of that year.

Renoir was well acquainted with the celebrated actress. They probably met at the Parisian home of their mutual friend Madame Marguerite Charpentier, where elite members of French society gathered with intellectuals and artists on Friday nights. Samary lived near Renoir’s studio and was a frequent model
for the artist. Renoir’s 1880 full-length portrait of her was highly acclaimed by the Paris art world.

Jeanne is wearing a brown town hat with dark red feather, black gloves, a blue coat with fur trim, and a plain white long-sleeved blouse.