La Grenouillère

Close friends Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet painted several paintings showing La Grenouillère, a Seine resort where people gathered to swim, boat, socialize, and eat at its café, around 1869. Renoir and Monet were both penniless at the time, and they traded some of their paintings for food with the proprietor of La Grenouillère.

The summer of 1869 was a watershed event in art history, as the two pioneered several theories, techniques, and practices that would give rise to Impressionism. Both painters painted their interpretations of the resort from the same vantage point. Bain à la Grenouillère is Monet's version (Bath at la Grenouillere). Both painters utilized quick, exposed brushstrokes in their renditions, which experts today credit with establishing "the graphic language of classic Impressionism." However, while Monet focuses on the effects of light on the scene, Renoir's version emphasizes on the human subjects, as evidenced by the intricate hairstyles of the ladies.

This Renoir picture, which is currently housed at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, is quite similar to a Monet painting of the same title. Camembert (a sort of cheese) or Pot de fleurs was the name given to the small artificial island populated by tourists in both paintings (flowerpot).

Year: 1869

Medium: oil on canvas

Dimensions: 66 cm × 81 cm (26 in × 32 in)

Location: National Museum, Stockholm