Exhibition on Screen - Renoir: Revered and Reviled

Aiming to make the world's masterpieces accessible to the masses, Exhibition on Screen brings the biggest art exhibitions and collections from galleries around the world to local cinemas in the UK and around the world.

This February the series’ star painter is impressionist Renoir. The Frenchman’s artistic merits have arguably been much debated lately, with the boldly named movement Renoir Sucks at Painting at the helm of the critiques. You thought the swaying branches of By the Water delightful, a wistful glimpse into the French art de vivre? Protester and leader of Renoir Sucks at Painting Max Geller, says the painter’s trees are “just a collection of green squiggles”. The veiled gazes in the The Luncheon of the Boating Party, poetic? They might as well have been “coloured by sharpies”, says Geller.

If you too feel like you’ve somewhat lost your critical bearings after all of this, then the film 'Renoir - Revered and Reviled' should provide you with some valuable material to furnish your own judgment. Based on the impressive collection of 181 Renoirs at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, the exhibition specifically addresses the painter’s late works – and why the latter has inspired as much awe as odium since. You’ll find out more about the mythological and odalisque scenes characterizing the artist’s mature years. And Monet, Picasso and Matisse get to give an anticipated response to Renoir's vilifiers which Geller could do well listening to.