Aline Charigot: Renoir's Ideal Partner

Highlighting one work of art from Renoir and Friends: Luncheon of the Boating Party, on view October 7, 2017-January 7, 2018. 

Aline Charigot spent her childhood in the village of Essoyes, but came to Paris to join her mother in 1874. She probably met Renoir in 1879, when she was 20 years old. She was younger than Renoir by 18 years, entering his life as he was beginning to receive the recognition and commissions necessary to stabilize his career. They married in 1890 and had three sons. According to their son Jean’s descriptions of his mother, she was the ideal partner for his father: a generous companion who never lost her love of the countryside, and when they acquired their property in Cagnes, was ready to roll up her sleeves and work the land. She served as a regular model for her husband, and, according to Jean, all his father’s paintings of women after he met Charigot resemble her to some degree. 

 Aline Charigot is the young woman reading a journal in this intimate scene that reflects her interest in fashion, as well as her close relationship with the artist.