Customer Reviews

Luncheon of the Boating Party

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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.

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.

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

Luncheon of the Boating Party is recommended for reader's interested in or familiar with the impressionist movement. The inclusion of Renoir's famous painting on the book jacket will have the reader flipping between the story and the cover. The book is a wonderful slice of Parisian life that most tourist never have an opportunity to experience. Unfortunately the plot can be slow moving and the reader may find herself skimming to get to the next bit of action. Overall, informative and enjoyable but not a page turning read.

What a fabulous book! It's Vreeland's best.

I like reading about the technical side of producing art. I liked it in The Girl with the Pearl Earring and I liked it here. The machinations of paying for models, art supplies, food, transportation were fascinating as was the hunt for the right models and solving the difficulties of what to include, what to exclude, and how to handle light and subject matter.

The continual quest for the painter to understand how the viewer would view the painting and what he would understand without the artist clubbing him over the head with the obvious is something I wish more authors of books would seek as well. Indeed, it was this concept that was at the heart of Impressionism: that the viewer's eye could conceive of an object in a painting if the artist could capture the proper alignment of light, color and form.

For example, take a very close look at a painting of one of the French Impressionists, without setting off the alarm in a museum. You can see the brush strokes. You can see blue and green lines close together. What you don't see is the house among the trees or whatever the subject matter is. Now walk backwards keeping your eye on the painting. The brush strokes disappear, the lines blend and become yellow, and the subject matter appears. Your eye and brain have done this.

This was the revolution that was Impressionism. Vreeland's contribution to our understanding of Impressionism is limited but her contribution to our understanding of the movement is immense. I never knew, for example, that an artist could not put 13 people in his or her painting. I never understood the difficulties of the models in posing, not just their keeping still throughout the day, but what they were giving up in their daily lives to be a part of artistic history. I never knew the hard choices Impressionists were having to make to continue to be a part of the movement in terms of gaining prominence (and fees) as a painter. There are many Impressionist painters who make appearances in this book along with their various commitments to the movement.

We know who these people who posed are, yet Vreeland is able to give them substance and character. It's the same with Renoir. It's her imagination that puts words in his mouth, but they are thoughts and words he must have had and uttered because of his known stances in the Impressionist movement. And whether they were kind people or not, I'm glad that Vreeland chose to make them so. It increased my enjoyment of the book.

I have spent little time discussing the painting. You really have to see it for yourself. It's right over there in Washington, D. C.

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.

In the summer of 1880 Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted the famed "Le dejeuner des canotiers." This evocative scene of fourteen people around the remains of the midday meal at La Maison Fournaise, and against a backdrop of boats on the Seine, depicts the bohemian milieu that inspired Renoir's art.

Susan Vreeland's radiant LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY is a wonderful imagining of the process of creating that Renoir masterpiece. She puts these words into one person's mouth when the painting --finished except for a few highlights -- is first viewed by the picture's models and the public: "Marvelous, the stories you hint at in the interactions." The novel's Renoir replies, "There is no story. It's only a moment." Actually, both are true. Renoir gathered friends and models to pose them in a scene. But these people related in various ways to one another. Some were friends of long standing. Others were introduced during the consecutive weeks they gathered on the Maison balcony on Sundays. Thusly, the composition evolved and the dynamics and "multinamics" of the boating party did also. For instance, trouble with one female model, who did not want to be painted in profile, led to her dismissal and the addition of a young woman who would one day be Mrs. Renoir, although not until years after the completion of this painting.

Vreeland finely, vividly renders details of 1880 in France: ten years after Napoleon III declared war on Prussia and was defeated, Paris is still healing the human sufferings from the Prussian Siege it endured and the subsequent Commune revolt which killed thousands. But the deprivation, the starvation isn't with Parisians any longer. Consider these delectable morsels one character finds in a shop: "She surveyed shelves of syrups, chutneys of exotic fruits, spices, foie gras, tins of macaroons and madeleines, olives from Provence, honey from Languedoc, fruit compotes from Gascogne, mustard from Dijon, caviar from the Aquitaine, a wall of sausages from Auvergne." And besides food and spirits, they enjoy music, plays, regattas on the river, and colors on canvas, of course. The arts (including culinary) are burgeoning.

Renoir served in the war, and remembers his artist friend, Frederic Bazille, who died. But Renoir isn't a man who chooses to dwell on the tragedy of life. His works are a celebration of love. He says in the book that he has to feel love for the women -- and in fact everything -- he paints. In fact, he makes love to them, in a sense, when he brushes them onto his canvases. He blushes up cheeks, he doesn't paint blemishes, he idealizes. In LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY, Renoir is a man in love with painting and so he must love his subjects in paint and in life.

Certainly Renoir, thirty-nine years old that summer, had a string of loves, some of whom appear in the painting. But he, struggling financially, doesn't have a current lover. He is getting some pointed nudges about settling down but isn't quite ready yet. He tells Aline Charigot, one of the models, " 'Sometimes I don't know who I am as a painter.' " And he has plans to travel to " ' see the Titians in Venice, the Raphaels in Rome, and to discover the sources of Delacroix's colors in Algeria.' " Still, he feels Aline embodies a kind of integration of his previous loves and believes she would give him a peaceful home life if they were to marry. However, Aline is also only half his age, and Renoir understands she still has growing up to do.

Aline isn't the only woman in Renoir's romantic thoughts in 1880. There is also Alphonsine Fournaise, war widow and the daughter of the proprietors of La Maison Fournaise. Renoir honors her as a singular light, rather than a culmination of his previous loves. LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY is told from the perspectives of Renoir and a number of the models. After Renoir, the reader visits Alphonsine's thoughts most, and that's as it should be since her likeness is arguably the heart of the boating party painting, and her character is likewise the heart of this book. Alphonsine is a true gift for the reader, for Vreeland interprets her as a woman of luminous inner beauty, a woman who loves unselfishly and without condition. She does everything she can to help Renoir with this great experimental undertaking. She encourages him when he has setbacks, she helps Aline feel comfortable when the latter joins the group, she even offers to let Renoir scrub her out of the painting so there won't be thirteen figures (untenable because it recalls the Last Supper, and there is a superstition that one person modeling for such a painting would die...like Judas). Alphonsine also, after some hesitation, tells Renoir her own secret about the war, wanting him to know her without reservation. This sensitive, generous woman definitely loves Renoir, but can their deep connection lead to a life together?

Vreeland writes marvelously! She coaxes to life so many big and little dramas of the boating party, and she does it with a confidence that truly adores and celebrates both Renoir's "Le dejeuner des canotiers" and the unknown mysteries of the real people immortalized in it. Like Renoir, Vreeland, it seems, does her best work out of love.

Don't miss LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY.

I just finished reading Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland and it was one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I've had recently. Vreeland effectively and beautifully captures and recreates a time - France, 1880 - that is of special interest to me, having just spent time in Paris, some of it looking at Impressionist paintings, and also having seen, last summer at the Philips Collection, the painting that is the subject of the book.

Her characters are wonderfully drawn, from female-worshipping painter Pierre Auguste Renoir to his widowed admirer Alphonsine Fournaise, and the dialogs and relationships, though sometimes predictable, are charming yet heart-felt.

Vreeland inserts us directly into this community of models, artists, prostitutes, cafés and restaurants, the bourgeoisie and the down-and-out, with great aplomb. Her descriptions of the Seine are so enticing, they make you want to strip down and jump right in. And to carry the process of making a painting, albeit a fabulously intriguing one, through 400-plus pages, is a marvellous achievement.

I was especially fascinated by the artistic conflicts and issues that Vreeland described and will use this book as a jumping board for further investigation.

Highly recommended for non-academics, like me, looking for entertaining, engaging, and edifying historical novels.

Let me get the negatives out of the way. This is a book that really needed to be edited since it is bogged down with so much description that it is a slow-starter of a book. It took me awhile to get into it. It is definitely not my favorite book of the year as it is bogged down with details and it was confusing with the characters who share similar names and some of their stories are interwoven with Renoir's. I still don't know much about Renoir at the end of the book, as he is a character that is never warmed up to the reader, well, this reader in any case.

Now for the positives. It is an enlightening book and a beautiful one where Renoir gathers fourteen of his dearest friends and models to pose around a luncheon near the river. Much has been made of his love of light and his talents. This is a look into the private scenes behind a famous painting (which I've never heard of till now), how it came about, how he dreamed of it, how frustrating it was to keep the same cast of people throughout a month of Sundays. It is an intimate look of Parisians who retreat to the countryside after a hard week's work to relax and enjoy their friendships.

And the descriptions of the food ... don't go on a diet while reading this book. You'll fall off the wagon because the descriptions of the meals in here will just lure you right back to the fridge in hopes that there is something delicious for you to eat there.

This is a great book for a book club to discuss. It is full of historical moments and inspirations. If you like historical fiction and art, this book is for you.

5/13/08

This is an engrossing book with very complex characters. I found it very interesting to read an explanation of how Renoir assembled his friends and got them to meet for weeks while he painted this picture. One trouble that I had was that I was constantly turning back to the cover to see which of the models the author was talking about. Finally I Googled the title of the painting and got this wonderful enlargement:
www.renoir.org.yu/painting.asp?id=165
Next I found a numbered key to the people in the painting at:
www.acesart.com/boatingparty/people.htm
These 2 sites made it so much easier to know what I was reading.
One strange thing, though --- in the book a great deal of time was spent worrying about the bad luck that would be entailed if there were only 13 people in the painting. The key, however, indentifies only 13 people. There seems to be a mystery man located in the center of the painting by the right shoulder of Adrien Maggiolo.