Renoir's rarely seen drawings debut at the Morgan

"Move over, water lilies-this fall it's Renoir's sketchbook that's stepping into the spotlight. The Morgan Library & Museum is about to do something no New York institution has attempted in more than a century: dedicate an entire exhibition to Pierre-Auguste Renoir's works on paper. "Renoir's drawings reveal an artist of tremendous sensitivity and range," said Colin B. Bailey, the Morgan's director and curator of the show. And he's not exaggerating."

"Opening October 17, Renoir Drawings will bring together more than 100 works-pastels, watercolors, prints and even a plaster sculpture-offering a rare chance to see the Impressionist master beyond his sun-dappled oils. The last time anyone staged a show like this was in Paris in 1921, which makes the Morgan's exhibition a bona fide art-world event. The presentation is organized with the Musée d'Orsay, where it will travel next summer, and it spans the artist's full career."

"One highlight: the Morgan's own large-scale sketch for The Great Bathers (1886-87), acquired in 2018, which will be shown alongside the finished painting, on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, plus seven other related drawings. Another crowd-pleaser, Dance in the Country (1883), gets the same treatment with its own suite of preparatory works. Together, these pairings reveal Renoir's habit of circling a subject from every angle before committing brush to canvas."

Renoir Drawings opens October 17 at the Morgan Library & Museum and assembles more than 100 works on paper, including pastels, watercolors and prints. Co-organized with Musée d'Orsay, the presentation will travel to Paris next summer. The exhibition spans Renoir's career, from academic figure studies and quick on-the-spot city impressions to intimate sketches of his wife and children and preparatory studies for major canvases. The Morgan's large sketch for The Great Bathers (1886-87), acquired in 2018, will be shown with the finished painting from the Philadelphia Museum of Art and related drawings. The show also includes Renoir's illustrations for Émile Zola's L'Assommoir and the periodical La Vie moderne.

Read at Time Out New York