▶▷ A Forerunner of Impressionism: Art of Sensuality and Joy
Hankook Ilbo, Korea’s leading daily newspaper, has been widely praised by Korean art lovers for organizing major exhibitions focused on some of the world’s greatest modern artists such as Chagall (2004), Picasso (2006), Monet (2007), and van Gogh (2007-2008). This year, Hankook Ilbo jointly presents with Seoul Museum of Art and SBS a collection of paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), a forerunner of Impressionist art and one of the world’s most beloved artists whose paintings focus on sensuality and joy. The event takes place from May 28 to September 13, 2009.

Renoir is often cited as the only figure of all the masters who lived through art’s turbulent era of the late 19th century but took up no tragic themes for his art. He believed that a painting should be “joyful, cheerful and beautiful,” and left over 5,000 oil paintings depicting the joy and delight of life via a fusion of colors and light.

Held as Korea’s first retrospective exhibition on the works of Renoir, the event guides art lovers to the true meaning of happiness in daily life in which the exuberance of light and colors expel darkness of our turbulent world. Visitors to the exhibition will be offered a rare opportunity to have a delightful journey into happiness captured by a master who believed that “a painting should be a gift of joy that cleanses the soul of mankind.”

▶▷ An Impressionist Master Who Left the World’s Most Beautiful Paintings

“A painting should be something that pleases the viewer’s eyes.”
Paintings by Renoir are not just simple depictions or representations of a scene capturing transient effects of light. His paintings are, first of all, something that entertains viewers and their eyes. His paintings are joy and happiness of life in the expression of contemporary life or classical beauty of sensuality, as “life is an eternal holiday.” Happiness that one encounters through the world’s most beautiful paintings -- that is the promise of the Renoir’s paintings.

“Renoir’s First Retrospective Exhibition in Korea”
This event is Korea’s third major exhibition focused on the art of Impressionist masters following that of Monet (420,000) in 2007 and van Gogh (810,000) in 2008, and the first exhibition devoted to the art of Renoir. With the works of this great Impressionist painter who remains one of the most popular artists across the world today, the exhibition is expected to offer a great opportunity to expand the base of the Korean art world and increase the number of art lovers in the country.
“The Largest Renoir Exhibition Ever”
This year’s exhibition in Seoul is known to be the largest Renoir exhibition in terms of quality and quantity after his retrospective exhibition held in 1985 at Grand Palais in Paris. The collection of about 120 works by Renoir are collected from some of the world’s most prestigious museums such as the Musee d'Orsay, Musee de l'Orangerie, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. For Korean art lovers, this exhibition is expected to be the only opportunity to get direct access to the essence of the Renoir art.
“Exhibition of the Largest Number of Oil Paintings in Korea”
Among the 118 works collected for this event, over 70 are oil paintings, making it the largest exhibition of oil painting ever held in Korea. Over 30 of them are works largely regarded as masterpieces, and naturally the exhibition will be a momentous event for those who are interested in the art world of Renoir.

Exhibition for the Greatest Masterpieces
The works to be shown in the exhibition include some of the most loved works among general art lovers and masterpieces representing the Impressionist movement and each stage of the Renoir’s art, such as The Country Dance (1883), The Swing (1876), Nude in the Sun (1875-1876), Girls at the Piano (1892), and Claude Renoir in Clown Costume (1909). The works are expected to guide viewers to the very heart of the Impressionist art world explored by Renoir.

“A Huge Collection of 118 Paintings in One Place”
Held as Korea’s first Renoir exhibition, this great art event presents a huge collection of 118 works gathered from individual collectors and over 40 public museums across the world including the Musee d'Orsay and Musee de l'Orangerie, home to many of the greatest Impressionist masterpieces. The works are arranged according to period and theme to cover the entire gamut of Renoir’s artistic achievement from the earliest to the final stage of his art, guiding viewers to a comprehensive overview of Renoir’s art world. The event is generally regarded as the largest Renoir exhibition since the retrospective exhibition held in 1985 at Grand Palais in Paris. A larger number of works are figure paintings including nude paintings capturing bathing women which are often considered as forming the pinnacle of his art.
Overview of the Exhibition
The exhibition consists of 8 sections arranged according to themes and designed to help viewers have a comprehensive understanding of Renoir’s art world. The first section, “Happiness of Daily Life,” exhibits colorful works depicting beautiful women, lovely children, and others all wearing happy smiles on their faces. It is then followed by “Family Portraits” (Section 2), “Women’s Images” (Section 3), and “Bathing Women and Nudity” (Section 4) which is highlighted by the paintings of beautiful women displaying a voluptuous, sensual body that characterizes the classical beauty of perfection in Renoir’s art. The paintings of “Renoir and His Art Dealers” in the fifth section are focused on the relationship between the artist and his art dealers – Durand-Ruel, Bernheim-Jeune and Vollard – while the “Landscapes and Still Lifes” in Section 6 capture attractive natural landscapes that played a crucial role in the birth of Impressionism. The last two sections consist of the “Renoir’s Works on Paper” (Section 7) and portraits of “Renoir Painted by Albert Andre” (Section 8).