Ahead of the Gallery’s major autumn exhibition, Renoir and Love (3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027), visitors are invited to an exciting sneak preview through the reunion of two of Impressionism's most celebrated paintings.
For a limited period, Claude Monet's Bathers at La Grenouillère and Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'La Grenouillère' (both 1869) will be displayed together at the Gallery for the first time in 19 years. Painted side by side from a very similar viewpoint, the works capture a defining moment in the birth of Impressionism, offering a first glimpse into the artistic friendships, emotional storytelling and spirit of experimentation that will be explored throughout 'Renoir and Love'.
The display will remain on view until mid-September, before Renoir's painting is incorporated into the exhibition installation. The reunion of the two paintings has been made possible thanks to the generous loan of Renoir's 'La Grenouillère' from Nationalmuseum, Stockholm.
During the summer of 1869, Monet and Renoir – then young, ambitious artists and close friends – travelled to La Grenouillère, a fashionable riverside resort on the banks of the Seine just outside Paris. Popular with Parisian society, the floating restaurant, bathing spot and boating destination provided the perfect setting for the pair to experiment with painting modern life.
Working 'en plein air' (out of doors), the artists set up their easels shoulder to shoulder, and each painted the same lively scene from a similar position. Together they created six paintings of La Grenouillère, united in their bold brushwork, bright colour and contemporary subject matter.
Although they painted the same scene, the two artists reveal remarkably different approaches.
Monet, who would become one of the greatest landscape painters of his generation, was captivated by the changing effects of light on water. His composition is simplified through broad, fragmented brushstrokes and broken colour, conveying the shimmering reflections of the Seine with twinkly magic.
Renoir, however, was drawn to people. His shorter, vibrant brushstrokes and softer palette create a flickering, sunlit atmosphere, while his attention focuses on the fashionable visitors gathered on the small island in the centre of the canvas.
The reunion of these two celebrated paintings offers visitors a rare opportunity to compare the artists' individual styles while also witnessing the close friendship and artistic dialogue that helped shape one of the most influential movements in Western art. Despite their differences, both works retain the freshness and experimental energy of two young painters discovering a radically new way of seeing the modern world around them.
