Renoir's Table

This book takes an unusual angle to view one of the masters of Impressionism. We are taken on a visual and culinary tour around late nineteenth-century Paris, and are introduced to the favourite haunts of the Impressionist group, captured in the good-natured festivities of Renoir's painting, "Dejeuner des Canotiers" for example, painted from life in the Restaurant Fournaise in Chatou or we are invited to join the diners on the banks of the Seine, evoking the atmosphere of "The Luncheon of the Boating Party". No one knew better than Renoir how to capture the sensuality and relaxation of the open air, the joy of living on a brilliant summers afternoon. Alongside a selection of Renoirs much-loved paintings we have gastronomic portraits; from Bouillabaisse Provengale to Potage Crecy and Firtures de Goujon, Chicken Renoir or Baked Tomatoes Cezanne, made especially by Madame Renoir, for a visit from the artist to her home. Each recipe is taken from an authentic contemporary source, recreating the feel of turn of the century Paris. Also depicted is Renoir's family life, an essential element in his often hectic career, a life which arrived late into his middle age. The Renoir family spent summers in Essoyes, in the eastern French countryside where the bucolic climate and hospitable style of daily life there is portrayed in ninety colour photographs of the region. Towards the end of his life Renoir was enchanted by this rural environment; featuring an abundance of flowers and olive trees framed by azure skies, captured in his later landscapes. The cast of characters in this bohemian, though sometimes harsh life include a list of the most gifted people of the day, Zola, Manet, and Cezanne as well as minor painters, writers, art dealers, society hostesses, cooks, restaurateurs, maids - all are drawn with loving recall; their stories taken from contemporary letters, and especially Jean Renoirs memoirs which invoke the heady, pleasure-seeking lifestyle which epitomises this fascinating era.