What's Wrong with Renoir?

"I had gone to the end of impressionism and I was reaching the conclusion that I didn't know how either to paint or draw."

This essay is part of an ongoing series celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the First Impressionist Exhibition, which debuted in Paris in 1874. If you’d like to read other essays on the history of Impressionism, you can do so here.

Luncheon of the Boating Party, Pierre-Auguste Renoir ca. 1880-1881. Via the Phillips Collection.

In 2015, a group of young protesters assembled outside the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. The target of their ire was the Impressionist painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The protest was motivated not by Renoir’s antisemitic beliefs (he was a fervent anti-Dreyfusard), nor contemporary pearl-clutching about his passion for the female nude. They simply felt that he was bad at painting.

“RENOIR SUCKS AT PAINTING,” read one sign. “We’re not iconoclasts. Renoir just SUCKS at painting!” cried another.

This tongue-in-cheek movement was spearheaded by Max Gellar, creator of the (satirical?) Instagram account, @renoir_sucks_at_painting. The account’s last post …