Eliza E Rathbone

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's famous painting Luncheon of the Boating Party (1880-81) portrays an informal gathering of real people he knew: fellow artists, journalists, critics, collectors, models and actors. Renoir and Friends deconstructs the painting, revealing the stories behind those he painted and explaining his working methods. Extraordinary details, photographs and contextual works - by Renoir and his contemporaries including Gustave Caillebotte, Edgar Degas, Leon Bonnat and Edouard Manet, draw out information about who these people were. Essays by leading academics focus on Renoir's models and look at how the artist created a painting with universal appeal whilst remaining convincingly specific. AUTHOR: Eliza Rathbone is chief curator emerita at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. SELLING POINTS: . The first volume to look in depth at Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party . Features over 100 colour images of works by Renoir and his contemporaries, from international museum and private collections 102 colour illustrations

The Phillips Collection, America's first museum of modern art, was founded in 1921 by Duncan Phillips (1886-1966), a Washington DC collector who played a vital role in introducing America to contemporary art. Unusually for his time, Phillips saw American artists as fully equal to their European counterparts, often hanging their works side by side. Moreover, Phillips chose to buy and exhibit works according to stylistic continuities and affinities, reflecting the visual connections between various artistic expressions, past and present. Master Paintings from The Phillips Collection highlights 108 masterworks from the Phillips's permanent collection and offers insight into the creation of one of the greatest private collections of modern art in the world. Featuring works by both American and European artists, among them Degas, Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Klee, Homer, Whistler, Hopper, Stieglitz, O'Keeffe, Calder, and Rothko, it aims to re-create what Duncan Phillips considered the "life-enhancing" experience of seeing new or challenging art in an intimate setting.