Party in the Country at Berneval
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste.
Oil on canvas. 60.3x73 cm
France. 1898
Source of Entry: formerly in the collection of Otto Krebs, Holzdorf.
Transferred from Germany after World War II

Party in the Country at Berneval interprets a subject that was far from new for French art. But Renoir turned to this theme only in the 1890s when it was no longer perceived as current. In 1898, Renoir spent the entire summer in Berneval, on the Normandy coast near Dieppe. He did not invent figures for his scenes: he always made use of nature's inspirations. However, the selection of models was rather limited in remote Berneval. In the foreground of the present picture Renoir shows three girls - Julie Manet, who was in Berneval briefly with the Renoir family, and her two cousins. In the centre is four-year-old Jean Renoir, the future film director. To the left stands Pierre, the artist's eldest son, who later became a well-known actor.