Here's the 7th piece of my
"Catching A Fleeting Moment" collection, Renoir's Summer 1880.
If I could live for a moment in a master's painting, I would choose Pierre Auguste Renoir's Luncheon Of The Boating Party :D He portrayed 14 Parisians from diverse backgrounds enjoying a summer Sunday at Chatou, the Maison Fournaise along the Seine River. It was not just a group portrait, it was a scene, a moment in modern life that Renoir wanted to express through this painting.
Susan Vreeland's New York Times Best Seller, Luncheon Of The Boating Party is a vivid novel of what went on behind the scene of this materpiece. Through the author, I was being transported to the summer of 1880 where Renoir organized the setting and his models to pose for him over several Sundays and it was here that he met his future wife, Aline :D I would have loved to be the silent observer of the happenings while Renoir worked passionately on his canvas.There was an interview with Susan Vreeland at the last part of the book and she expressed it so aptly that I couldn't agree more. When asked why she chose Renoir's Luncheon Of The Boating Party as a subject for a novel, here's her reply:
Besides being the central masterpiece of the art movement that changed the look of art forever, it represents the qualities of the French soul: joyous friendship, appreciation of beauty, verve, and the intoxication with life. It invites us to ask ourselves: How can one live a life so filled with beauty and so rich with pleasure?............what is the painting about? In part, it's about the tantalizing riches of the senses. It evokes sensuous experiences beyond the visual: the feel of the breeze on the skin, evidenced by the fluttering scallops on the awning and sailboats making their way upstream; the frangrance of the fruit that fills the nose; the taste of wine that enlivens the palate; the feel of one's surroundings - one woman's fingers in a dog's fur, the sun on another one's back; the sound of songs sung by boaters as they row past, and by the models to each other. They are sucking pleasure out of everything, valuing the last taste in the glass and the colors surrounding them, noticing the look in soneone's eyes and engaging in spirited exchange.
One looks at the painting and envies for an instant the characters' capacity to fill themselves with pleasure, to grasp the fleeting present and hold it as one might hold a bird before letting it go. The painting is imbued with this encouragement to notice the delicious details in life, to value the moment, and to each other. Seen in the press of high-speed living, it seduces us and urges us to stop and look and listen and taste and feel - and ultimately, appreciate. At its' best moments that's what fine art can do if we let it work on us."
This Blue French Letter fabric by Tracie Lyn Huskampm printed by Windham Fabrics is used as the background with the owl painted with bright summery colors. The owl's eyes are embellished with white pearls and her wings with sparkling gold rhinestone gems.
One of the major highlight of this piece is a miniature dollhouse framed painting of Renoir's Luncheon Of The Boating Party, measures about 2.75 by 2.25 inches. Found these petite glass Czech intaglio cabochons of sailboats which I mounted on vintage blue buttons, love the way they seem to sit nicely on the buttons.
Felt the need to include a vintage watch face here because Renoir was determined to complete this painting before the summer lights came to an end, time was of essence. At the bottom right corner is a yellow brass artist's palette, I added some paint onto the palette. Other border embellishments included wooden butterflies, french colored ribbon, antique metal buttons, rhinestone buttons,an antique gold stamping of the side profile of a lady (I wanted her to represent Aline, the woman with the puppy who eventually became Renoir's wife) and orange red poppy fabric flowers, those were the flowers found on Aline's hat :D
This artwork measures about 12 x 10 inches and 14 x 12 inches when framed.
