Luncheon of the Boating Party [Hardcover]

Susan Vreeland (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 3, 2007

Bestselling author Susan Vreeland returns with a vivid exploration of one of the most beloved Renoir paintings in the world

Instantly recognizable, Auguste Renoir’s masterpiece depicts a gathering of his real friends enjoying a summer Sunday on a café terrace along the Seine near Paris. A wealthy painter, an art collector, an Italian journalist, a war hero, a celebrated actress, and Renoir’s future wife, among others, share this moment of la vie moderne, a time when social constraints were loosening and Paris was healing after the Franco-Prussian War. Parisians were bursting with a desire for pleasure and a yearning to create something extraordinary out of life. Renoir shared these urges and took on this most challenging project at a time of personal crises in art and love, all the while facing issues of loyalty and the diverging styles that were tearing apart the Impressionist group. Narrated by Renoir and seven of the models and using settings in Paris and on the Seine, Vreeland illuminates the gusto, hedonism, and art of the era. With a gorgeous palette of vibrant, captivating characters, she paints their lives, loves, losses, and triumphs in a brilliant portrait of her own.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Imagining the banks of the Seine in the thick of la vie moderne, Vreeland (Girl in Hyacinth Blue) tracks Auguste Renoir as he conceives, plans and paints the 1880 masterpiece that gives her vivid fourth novel its title. Renoir, then 39, pays the rent on his Montmartre garret by painting "overbred society women in their fussy parlors," but, goaded by negative criticism from Émile Zola, he dreams of doing a breakout work. On July 20, the daughter of a resort innkeeper close to Paris suggests that Auguste paint from the restaurant's terrace. The party of 13 subjects Renoir puts together (with difficulty) eventually spends several Sundays drinking and flirting under the spell of the painter's brush. Renoir, who declares, "I only want to paint women I love," falls desperately for his newest models, while trying to win his last subject back from her rich fiancé. But Auguste and his friends only have two months to catch the light he wants and fend off charges that he and his fellow Impressionists see the world "through rose-colored glasses." Vreeland achieves a detailed and surprising group portrait, individualized and immediate. (May)
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From Bookmarks Magazine

Author of the previous hit Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland comes through with another compelling historical novel centered on artists and their work. Critics agree that the concept (tracing Renoir's steps back from this joyous painting) and the research (combining facts not only about Renoir's inner circle but also details about French café society, culture, and painting techniques) demonstrate considerable skill and dedication. The Seattle Times even calls Luncheon "this summer's most satisfying historical novel." Others find that Vreeland gets too bogged down in historical detail, which slows the plot and sometimes creates a strained narrative. Despite this perhaps overabundance of historical material, Luncheon succeeds as a portrait of both a man and an era.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (May 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670038547
• ISBN-13: 978-0670038541
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #215,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Vreeland's short fiction has appeared in journals such as The Missouri Review, Confrontation, New England Review, and Alaska Quarterly Review. Her first novel, What Love Sees, was made into a CBS Sunday Night Movie. She teaches English literature and Art in San Diego public schools.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

136 of 141 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A grand vision and description of Impressionist Paris June 6, 2007

By Rebecca Huston

Format:Hardcover

Art is one of those oddly subjective things. Everyone looks at it quite literally and where one person can find extreme beauty and emotion, another will just shrug and go eh. That's both the curse and the joy of art, that everyone certainly has an opinion on it, and it's more likely than not that everyone is going to disagree about something about it. One of the greatest disagreements about art, and how it was created occured in Paris, in the last half of the nineteenth century. and it would change painting forever.

One of those rebellious artists is the protagonist of this novel, Auguste Renoir. He's struggling to make ends meet, always in debt it seems, to the supplier of his canvas and paints, to Camille who runs the eatery where he takes many of his meals, to his friends. Obligations are all around him, and he fights to keep himself going, always looking for inspiration. He is part of the artistic revolution known as the Impressionists, that broke away from the rigid Academic style and the critics of the Salon and took the heretical notion that art could be of the instant and didn't need to be executed in a staged, realistic fashion.

Now it looks as though the Impressionist movement is starting to break up -- two major factions have formed, with Edgar Degas and his followers saying that art needs to show the seedier side of reality, and others trying to stay with the original ideas. Some have died in the terrible days of the Franco-Prussian War and the Communard that followed afterwards, and even after a decade, the scars are still there in a slowly recovering Paris.

A popular way of escaping is to go out to one of the suburbs on the Seine, and go boating.... Here, nearly all classes are equal, with the stuffy bourgoisie clinging to their frock coats and top hats, workers and artisans alike down to their undershirts and taking to the water to enjoy a summer's day. A restaurant has sprung up on a small island, and it is here that Renoir comes up with his idea of a grand canvas to get him the recognition -- and fortune -- that he craves from the Salon.

The problem is -- how is he going to get his funds, his models and his supplies all together? Some people he has already decided on, from his friend, Gustave the collector, Alphonse and Alphonsine who work in the restaurant, Angele the bawdy and Antonio the journalist, all of them vibrant and alive, but Auguste is after more. He assembles his models, luring them with the promise of excellent lunches and fees on Sundays on the Seine.

But, not everything is going too well. One model refuses to sit still, and creates continual chaos in her wake, another is locked in a tenuous relationship with her lover over the question of marriage, others get tangled up in outside problems, and soon enough, it looks as though the painting is never going to get finished in time before the summer light runs out.

Vreeland creates a vibrant world here that is alive with colour and humour. But to balance that she's wise enough to include some of the darker side of reality -- poverty is a real fear, the treatment of women, illiteracy, and the memories of a city that was nearly destroyed and is only starting to really recover. Her ability to create characters that have distinct voices and styles is very evident here, and I felt as though I was an eavesdropper throughout, and enjoying myself every step of the way.

Best of all, she goes into some of the internal struggle that everyone who seeks to make a living by using their creativity goes through. Do you go on and paint what you want to, or do you give in to the pressures to sacrifice and give up so that you can keep a roof over your head and food on the table? She explored this problem beautifully, and as someone who has had to go through this, it's spot on.

For anyone who has ever looked at the Impressionist movement and wondered what in the world were they getting at, this is a book to be nibbled and savoured. There are plenty of ideas to take in, moments to laugh over, times to cringe, and quite a few to sigh, and cry out over. In the grand, beautiful vision of Le dejeneur des canontiers, Renoir gives a moment in time, and boldly invites the viewer in, and Vreeland does the same for the reader.

There are two inserts of colour reproductions of Renoir's paintings, mostly of those mentioned in the text, which gives just the right touch to help the reader along, and an author's note at the end takes some of the more unlikely aspects and provides a surprise or two.

Summing up, this is a grand summer read, and worth the effort. By the third chapter I was definately hooked, and did not want this story to end. This novel is going on my keeper shelves, and I suspect in a year or two, I am going to take it down and give it a re-reading. So go on, find a spot to relax, pack up your own dejeneur and enjoy this one. Both artists and nonartists I think will enjoy this one.

Happy recommended, with five bold slashing stars. Read more ›

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A tale of the French Impressionist group May 30, 2007

By Bookreporter

Format:Hardcover

In previous novels, Susan Vreeland has brought artists as diverse as Jan Vermeer, Emily Carr and Artemisia Gentileschi to life in the pages of her novels, often focusing on the fictional circumstances surrounding their masterworks. Now Vreeland turns her attention to Impressionist master Pierre Auguste Renoir and the genesis of his most famous work, which depicts a group of 14 merrymakers enjoying lunch on the banks of the Seine outside Paris.

At the novel's opening, Renoir is frustrated; the Impressionist group seems to be dividing against itself, conflicted over the question of whether to exhibit paintings in the more establishment-sanctioned Salon. What's more, Renoir is outraged by an essay written by critic Emile Zola, who writes, "Despite their [the Impressionists'] struggle, they have not reached their goal; they remain inferior to what they undertake; they stammer without being able to find words."

Renoir, convinced that he is the one to prove Zola wrong and finally get a major Impressionist work shown at the Salon, sets about to paint a picture that will define la vie moderne (modern life): young people, enjoying leisure time at a riverside cafe. He envisions a monumental painting that will combine portraiture, group dynamics and still life in a composition that is both an homage to classical masters and a vision for the future of painting.

But for Renoir, realizing his vision will hardly be simple. There's the matter of assembling an appropriate group of models, which include country folk, fellow artists, writers and a former mistress or two. There's the fact that Renoir's right arm is in a cast following a bicycling accident.... And there's the eternal problems of time and money, both of which might run out before Renoir has been able to capture the elusive quality of summer light on the Seine.

Vreeland's writing here is as engaging as ever, particularly when she broadens her scope to focus on the various figures in the painting, revealing their own stories and connections even as she focuses primarily on Renoir's own vision and motivation. The scenes that take place during each Sunday's modeling sessions are particularly delightful, as these young Parisians engage in witty, bawdy banter while Renoir attempts to capture their frivolity and spirit with his brush.

Vreeland's portrayal of Renoir himself is a fascinating character study. She plays with his reputation as a philanderer, giving his well-known affection for his models substance and depth even as the easily influenced painter falls hard for his newest models: "A painter of women was what he wanted to be known as, but that meant having a steady stream of models to inspire him, to make his pulse pound with the urgency to paint what he saw, what he felt in his body, what he wanted to touch."

Readers familiar with Renoir's work and that of his fellow Impressionists will glean the most from Vreeland's latest novel, and will likely pick up on many of her allusions to other artistic works (some of which are reproduced in color plates). But even readers new to Renoir's life and work will come away from LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY with a great appreciation for these complex, accomplished group portraits --- both Renoir's and Vreeland's.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl Read more ›

67 of 70 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you for the beautiful art! May 11, 2007

By Receptive Reader

Format:Hardcover

This was like reading a painting! What a delightful book! Such descriptive colors, you could almost smell the food. The emotions behind creating this masterpiece were described so well; the characters believable; the art world they are in presented so intelligently. Yet, it doesn't get too intense. Susan Vreeland is always generous with her research. There's even more on her website. I learn so much when I read her books and always enjoy the stories.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful -- I felt like I was there June 4, 2007

By Ryner

Format:Hardcover

This is the story of Renoir's famous painting 'Luncheon of the Boating Party,' a work completed on the balcony of the restaurant Maison Fournaise, just outside of Paris. Combining historical fact with Ms. Vreeland's vivid imagination we learn how the painting came into existence and how the models were chosen and gathered, as well as a sense of the time and place. The models' identities are largely based on historical fact, but as with all works of historical fiction the author uses her colorful imagination in guessing their conversations, relationships and emotions. At the beginning of the story, Auguste Renoir is struggling even to cover the costs of purchasing several tubes of paint, but by the time the painting is finished the reader gets a sense that Luncheon represents a fortunate turning point in his career.

There is something compelling about an author bringing to life the story of a work of art. The characters become familiar and spark curiosity about who they were, the location becomes a real place one could visit, and the art itself becomes an intimate friend. Susan Vreeland first piqued my interest with her biographical historical fiction, 'The Passion of Artemisia.' Her background in and her passion for fine art is clearly a prerequisite in producing a story like this. The descriptions of the colors, clothing and food I can only describe as "delicious" and nearly caused me to feel that I was actually there among them.

One suggestion: Print a color copy of the painting to reference as you read. Otherwise you'll be flipping to look at the cover approximately 3,496 times.