Renoir Drawings
Morgan Library & Museum, New York
October 17, 2025 - February 8, 2026
Portrait of a Girl (Elisabeth Maître), 1879
Pastel on Ingres paper
The Albertina Museum, Vienna – The Batliner Collection, DL535
While the paintings of Auguste Renoir (1841–1919) have become icons of Impressionism, his drawings, watercolors, and pastels are far less widely known. In fact, drawing remained central to his artistic practice even as his interests and ambitions changed over the course of a long career. This exhibition explores the ways in which Auguste Renoir used paper to test ideas, plan compositions, and interpret both landscape and the human figure.
Thematic sections cover the full span of the artist’s career, ranging from academic studies he made as a student, to on-the-spot impressions of contemporary urban and rural life, to finished, formal portraits, to intimate sketches of friends and family completed late in life. In-depth case studies of favored themes and preparatory work for landmark canvases further illuminate Renoir’s practice of drawing.
Inspired by the major gift to the Morgan of a large-scale preparatory sketch for one of Renoir’s most significant paintings, The Great Bathers, this exhibition is the first in a century to explore the artist’s works on paper in depth. Organized by the Morgan Library Museum and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Renoir Drawings brings together nearly one hundred drawings, pastels, watercolors, prints, and a small selection of paintings, enabling visitors to engage with Renoir’s creative process while offering insights into his artistic methods over five decades.
Organized by Colin B. Bailey, Katharine J. Rayner Director, and Sarah Lees, Research Associate.
THE MORGAN LIBRARY & MUSEUM
225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016