Focus on Les Grandes Baigneuses (Renoir) and analyze the Reception.
The painting was exhibited at the Petit Gallery in May 1887. Renoir considered this work to be his grand masterpiece and he reportedly expected viewers to be "dumbfounded" by the painting. The painting was controversial, but it did not generate the success or critical acclaim that Renoir had hoped to achieve. In particular, many critics strongly condemned Renoir’s combination of Rococo and Impressionist styles, indicating that the painting lacked aesthetic harmony. Some artists and critics, however, praised the new style of Renoir’s work. In particular, the Impressionist artists Berthe Morisot and Claude Monet greatly admired the painting. Monet stated, "Renoir made a superb painting of his bathers. Not understood by all, but by many." Renoir's painting had a strong influence on Paul Cézanne, who would also go on to complete a series of paintings depicting nude bathers in nature.
Impressionist style a series of paintings Berthe Morisot Rococo Impressionist Renoir Claude Monet Paul Cézanne