EXHIBITION
EXHIBITION
For the opening of the Pietro Maria Bardi Building, MASP presents five exhibitions concerning its collection and history. On this floor, the Renoir show gathers 13 works, which not only is the largest group of works by a single modern European artist in the Museum’s collection but also reveals his outstanding ability to navigate among genres, as evidenced by his portraits, landscape, nudes, and bathers displayed here. This set of works has not been shown for 23 years.
One of the principal artists of the first generation of French Impressionists—alongside Claude Monet (1840–1926) and Edgar Degas (1834–1917)—, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) took part in the independent exhibitions which, from 1873 onwards, began to challenge the dominance of the academies, thus breaking with the tradition they imposed and their system of awards at the official Salons. However, only he and Degas conveyed the new art’s revolution while preserving a far-reaching dialogue with old masters, such as Titian (1488–1576) and Fragonard (1732–1806).
Another modernity feature in Renoir’s oeuvre lies in the fact that he was one of the greatest proponents of the new painting techniques that emerged in the 19th century, such as portable paint tubes, a creation directly linked with landscape painting and Impressionism, based on working outdoors and trying to capture changes of light and color swiftly. Renoir’s relationship with landscape influenced the works of Brazilian artists Antônio Parreiras (1860–1937) and Giovanni Castagneto (1851–1900).
The female nudes and bathers comprise the most renowned part of the last decades of Renoir’s oeuvre, after he distanced himself from the traditional Impressionist language, a phase that inspired Picasso (1881–1973) and Matisse (1869–1954). Translating into paint the materiality of the human body, especially the skin, became an obsession for Renoir, who until this day is acknowledged as a renovator of the genre. However, as one of the leading artists of this trend, his production was also framed by feminist critics as reaffirming a strain that objectified women’s bodies and conformed to the male gaze, both of the painter and the public.
Text by Fernando Oliva, Curator, MASP
Renoir is curated by Adriano Pedrosa, Artistic Director, MASP, and Fernando Oliva
The show is part of the group Five Essays about MASP, exhibitions opening the Pietro Maria Bardi Building and taking place on five other floors: MASP’s Histories (6th floor), Geometries (4th and 10th floor), Arts from Africa (3rd floor), and Isaac Julien: Lina Bo Bardi – A Marvelous Entanglement (2nd floor).
About the Artist
Born in Limoges, France, in 1841, Renoir was one of the leading painters of the French Impressionist movement, known for his vividly colorful paintings characterized by the use of light and color, fluid brushstrokes, and a special attention to the human figure, especially in everyday scenes and portraits. Renoir began his career as an apprentice porcelain painter, but soon devoted himself to painting on canvas, developing a style that evolved from impressionism to realism. As a young man, he met Claude Monet (1840-1926) while attending workshops and studying at the École de Beaux-Arts in Paris. Together with Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) and Alfred Sisley (1839-1899), they formed the first group of Impressionists who renewed the techniques and themes of painting at the time. However, unlike his colleagues, who were more concerned with capturing the visual sensation produced by the subject in nature, Renoir was more interested in human representation in the various portraits he painted, many of them of elite French families.
ACCESSIBILITY
All temporary exhibitions at MASP are accessible, with free admission for people with disabilities and their companions. Visits are offered in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) or with descriptive texts and subtitles in large print and audio-visual productions in easy language – with narration, subtitles and interpretation in Libras, describing and commenting on the spaces and works. The content, available on the museum’s website and YouTube channel, can be used by people with disabilities, students, teachers, non-literate people and the public.
PRESENTED BY
Five essays on MASP – Pierre-Auguste Renoir is made possible through the Federal Cultural Incentive Law and has sponsorship by Citi Brasil and Stellantis.
SERVICE INFO
Five essays on MASP – Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Curated by Adriano Pedrosa, Artistic Director, MASP, and Fernando Oliva, Curator, MASP
5th Floor
Pietro Maria Bardi Building
Visitation 03/28/2025 – 08/03/2025
MASP – Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand
Avenida Paulista, 1510 - Bela Vista
01310-200 São Paulo, SP
Telephone: (11) 3149-5959
Hours: Free on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (admission until 7 p.m.); Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (admission until 5 p.m.); Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (free admission from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.); Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (admission until 5 p.m.); closed on Mondays.
Online booking required via masp.org.br/ingressos
Tickets: R$ 75 (admission); R$ 37 (students with ID)
PRESS CONTACT
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Roberta Montanari: 11 99967-3292
roberta.montanari@conteudonet.com
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