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
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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 |
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 |
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 |
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
Royal Society of Marine Artists | Annual Exhibition 2026
Renoir and Love
Explore the sun-dappled gardens and swirling dance halls of Paris through 40 paintings, brought together from collections across the world.
- £20 (off-peak, Sunday-Thursday)
- £25 (Friday and Saturday, and all days in the first two weeks)
- Under 18s go free
