Room 41 in the
National Gallery
in London currently has two very famous paintings hanging next to one
another. They are the two paintings created of La Grenouillère by Claud
Monet and Pierre Renoir.
Monet and Renoir - Painting Side by Side
The National Gallery has a
link to this exhibit - which continues until 22 September 2026 and is free to all visitors before the Renoir painting moves to a new exhibition
(see end for more details)
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The panorama of boats, bathers and people at La Grenouillère
(Left) Bathers at La
Grenouillère by Claud Monet (1840-1926)
(Right) La Grenouillère
by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1841-1919
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I've seen them hung like this before. However what is extremely helpful this time
is the diagram which demonstrates how close they were to one another - but
looking in different directions.
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The two viewpoints of the small island on the River Seine
from the
pier of the floating restaurant
Monet in orange and Renoir in grey
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They are in effect stood a few feet apart and looking across each other's
viewpoint.
Note how if you study the diagram and then look at the paintings next to one another, they are almost a panorama of the scene in front of both men. eg
- Renoir includes the small island
- while Monet crops just to the left of the island
The diagram is adapted from one contained in a book called
Modernity and Modernism French Painting in the Nineteenth Century Yale
University Press 1993 (available online for a low price)
Here are the two paintings in isolation.
For those who can't get to the London, I've also included the descriptions of the two paintings in the exhibit.
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Bathers at La Grenouillère by Claud Monet (1840-1926)
oil on canvas
National Gallery, London |
Painted quickly on the spot, this picture has a cursory quality. Adopting an unusual viewpoint and a high horizon, Monet draws the viewer's eye to the river and the boats in the foreground. A wooden pontoon cuts across the middle of canvas, breaking the traditional rules of composition. Rapid dabs of colour suggest bathers and strollers. Avoiding a literal transcription of reality, in this seminal work Monet captures the essence - the impression of a landscape.
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La Grenouillère by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)
oil on canvas on loan from the National Museum Stockholm
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Renoir chooses a different viewpoint, to the right of Monet's. He includes the little round islet known as the *camembert' and, to the far right, a floating restaurant. Unlike Monet, Renoir focuses his attention on the fashionable crowd in the centre, populating his canvas with delightful details: a child plays with a boat, while a dog snoozes in the shadow. "La Grenouillère was a perpetual party, and what an assortment of people!" he later recalled.
Two exhibitions of note are coming up - which relate in a way to these two paintings.
Two NEW Exhibitions in London
North, West and East Galleries at the
Mall Galleries - 16 Sep 2026 - 26 Sep 2026 - 10am to 5pm
The RSMA paint scenes associated with seas and tidal rivers. This particular scene would not have been possible as the Seine is only tidal to Rouen.
(note: the Royal Society of Marine Artists website is not secure i.e. http:// rather than https:// and I never link to insecure websites)
Explore the sun-dappled gardens and swirling dance halls of Paris through 40 paintings, brought together from collections across the world.
National Gallery, London
Dates: 3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027
Standard admission
- £20 (off-peak, Sunday-Thursday)
- £25 (Friday and Saturday, and all days in the first two weeks)
- Under 18s go free
