BOOK - "LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY" by SUSAN VREELAND (2007)

"To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them."  

--- PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR

During my recent trip to EUROPE, I included on our itinerary, a visit to RENOIR'S HOUSE and his FINAL RESTING PLACE in ESSOYES, FRANCE. Quite fitting that this book was next on my reading list, which I enjoyed on the way home and over the past week. Take a look at my subsequent BLOG POST, which will include many photos I took of the town, RENOIR'S home, his studio, his gardens, and his final resting place, next to his wife, ALINE.

If you're a fan of the IMPRESSIONIST painting style, you're probably familiar with RENOIR's famous MASTERPIECE - "LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY".

Photo from Wikipedia

I was very familiar with it when my friend SANDRA recommended this book, which made the characters and the events around his painting this, even more enjoyable for me.  

The author, SUSAN VREELAND was also familiar to me because I had previously read and totally enjoyed two of her books - LISETTE'S LIST (2014), set in ROUSSILLON, one of my favorite villages in PROVENCE, FRANCE and CLARA AND MR TIFFANY (2010).  I recommend all three.

This book takes you back to the late 1800's when RENOIR gathered 14 people at a restaurant along the SEINE RIVER to model for his painting. The author easily brings to life 7 of these people, thanks to her extended research and readings.

In a CONVERSATION about this book with SUSAN VREELAND, she says:

• "With all of this research, I was able to have a large degree of authenticity. The paintings, the identities of the models, the salient events of their lives, Renoir's process of painting, the issues facing the Impressionist group, the places where scenes are set, are all factual."

• "The painting is imbued with this encouragement to notice delicious details in life, to value the moment, and 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."

• "Each time we enter imaginatively into the life of another, it's a small step upward in the elevation of the human race. When there is no imagination of others' lives, there is no human connection, and therefore no compassion. Without compassion, then community, commitment, loving kindness, human understanding, and peace - all shrivel. Individuals become isolated, the isolated can turn cruel, and the tragic hovers. Art - and literature - are antidotes to that."

JOAN

P.S. At GROUNDS FOR SCULPTURE in  Hamilton Township, NJ (a wonderful exhibit of sculptures and gardens and a great way to spend a morning or afternoon) you will see a "greater than lifesize replica" of LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY by artist SEWARD JOHNSON called "WERE YOU INVITED?" Johnson modified the painting and extended the party (and awning) in the back by including some additional people - himself and several artist friends (photo below):