Where is Renoirs Luncheon of the Boating Party?
Many consider Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s masterpiece to be the greatest impressionist painting of them all. For Thomas Hoving in “Art for Dummies,” it belongs on a short list of the 15 greatest works of art of Western Civilization. Its “five gorgeous young women and nine of the handsomest of men… at the moment they have just polished off a great French meal with copious wine” is surely one of the most life affirming works of the 19th century, as well as being one of the sexiest of all time. I’m quite serious when I say its well known as one of great “date” paintings in this city. This irresistible work, with its larger than life canvas, is the centerpiece of the Phillips in Washington D.C. – a treasure trove of modern art. The Collection opened to the public in 1921 as America’s first museum of modern art and its sources. Housed in the unique setting of founder Duncan Phillips’s 1897 Georgian Revival home in Dupont Circle, the gallery should be on every art lovers list when they visit t
