Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 'At the Theatre (La Première Sortie)', 1876-7

At the Theatre (La Première Sortie)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Room 41

About the work

Overview

We seem to be sitting in a box at the theatre with two young women, though we can’t be sure what is going on. We can’t see the stage and one of the women is looking away from us, the back of her bonnet hiding most of the other’s face. This sense of mystery is enhanced by the nearer woman’s pose, leaning forward slightly as though something is absorbing her attention. It may not be the stage performance that has captured her eye: in nineteenth-century Paris, attending the theatre was as much about social status as seeing the show. We get a strong sense of an atmosphere of people-watching in this picture. Among the audience in the background, a man in the lower tier and a woman above him stand out. They seem to have their eyes turned, either on us, the viewer, or on the young woman in the box.

In-depth

We seem to be sitting in a box at the theatre, which we share with two young women. But we can’t be sure what is going on. We can’t see the stage and we have only a very partial view of the audience. One woman is looking away from us and the back of her bonnet hides most of the other’s face, so we can’t gauge their expressions clearly or make a reliable judgement as to how old they are. Nor can we tell what they are looking at.

This sense of mystery – of a hidden narrative – is enhanced by the fact that the nearer of the two women is sitting very upright and leaning forward slightly, as though something is absorbing her attention. This is hardly surprising given the occasion, but it may not be the stage performance which has captured her eye. In nineteenth-century Paris, attending the theatre was as much about social status as it was about watching the show – seeing who was there, what they were wearing and with whom they were associating.

The grand staircase in the foyer of the Palais Garnier opera house, which had opened only a year or two before this painting was made, was built with a series of balconies on either side – vantage points to view those arriving at the theatre. The auditorium itself, like many others in the city, was designed with boxes that faced more towards the rest of the audience than towards the stage: the occupants were on display as much as the performers. Renoir was clearly conscious of this tension. In La Loge (Courtauld Institute, London), his other famous painting of a theatre box, one of the occupants is depicted using his opera glasses not to focus on the stage but to scan the audience around him.

We get a strong sense of an atmosphere of people-watching in this picture too. Among the loosely sketched audience in the background, Renoir has made two figures – a man in the lower tier and a woman in the tier above him – stand out. They seem to have their eyes turned, either on us or, we might think, on the young woman in the box. He also made changes to the composition to increase the focus on her. X-radiography shows that he painted over two additional figures who were seated in the front of the box.

Renoir did not give this painting its current title La Première Sortie (‘the first outing’) so it is not a reliable guide to how we should interpret it. This title was first used in 1923, when the picture was sold in a London auction. This was after Renoir’s death and nearly 50 years after the picture was made. The title was probably applied to make the painting more marketable and seems to stem from the perceived youth of the woman in black, the apparent excitement suggested by her posture and the fact that she clasps a bunch of flowers.

Before 1923 the painting had been referred to more neutrally as ‘Au Théâtre’ (’At the Theatre‘) and also ’Le Café-Concert’, which is strange as the setting is much grander than the sort of venue where café concerts, which were such a popular entertainment at the time, were held. There is no evidence that any of these was used by Renoir, who often gave his paintings no titles at all.

Key facts

Details

Full title: At the Theatre (La Première Sortie)
Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Artist dates: 1841 - 1919
Date made: 1876-7
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 65 × 49.5 cm
Inscription summary: Signed
Acquisition credit: Bought, Courtauld Fund, 1923
Inventory number: NG3859
Location: Room 41
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 19th-century French Frame

Provenance

No. 203 (10,000 francs) in the Album‐Souvenir (1899) of the Armand Doria sale. Bought, 1900, by Pieter van der Velde, who retained it until 1920. At different times with Durand‐Ruel, Bernheim‐Jeune, Barbezanges and Knoedler. Acquired from the latter, Courtauld Fund, 1923. Transferred from the Tate Gallery, 1961.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, with additions and some revisions by Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, etc.’, London 1970; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2012

Renoir, Between Bohemia and Bourgeoisie: The Early Years

Kunstmuseum Basel

1 April 2012 - 12 August 2012
2015

Monet and the Birth of Impressionism

Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie

11 March 2015 - 21 June 2015
2018

Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cézanne

The National Gallery (London)

17 September 2018 - 20 January 2019
2020

Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London

The National Museum of Western Art

18 June 2020 - 18 October 2020

The National Museum of Art

3 November 2020 - 31 January 2021
2021

Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London

National Gallery of Australia

5 March 2021 - 14 June 2021
2022

Renoir: Rococo Revival

Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie

2 March 2022 - 19 June 2022
2024

Impressionism and Its Overlooked Women

Ordrupgaard

9 February 2024 - 19 May 2024

Bibliography

1923

W. Sickert, 'French Pictures at Knoedler's Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, XLIII/244, 1923, pp. 39-44
1924

'Gallery and Museum Acquisitions', The Burlington Magazine, XLV/258, 1924, p. xxix
1926

R. Fry, 'The Courtauld Fund', Nation and Athenaeum, 1926, pp. 613-4
1926

D.S. MacColl, 'A Birthday Gift', The Burlington Magazine, XLIX/280, 1926, pp. 17-8
1929

J. Meier-Graefe, Renoir, Leipzig 1929
1937

M. Florisoone, Renoir, London 1937
1944

M. Drucker, Renoir, Paris 1944
1949

M. Raynal and H. Read, History of Modern Painting: From Baudelaire to Bonnard, London 1949
1950

L. Venturi, Impressionists and Symbolists, London 1950
1951

W. Pach, Renoir, London 1951
1954

D. Cooper, The Courtauld Collection: A Catalogue and Introduction, London 1954
1959

R. Alley, Tate Gallery Catalogues: The Foreign Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, London 1959
1968

R. Walter, 'Pieter van der Velde, un amateur éclairé', Gazette des beaux-arts, 72, 1968, pp. 203-6
1970

Davies, Martin, and Cecil Gould, National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists etc., London 1970
1971

F. Daulte, Auguste Renoir: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, I: Figures 1860-1890, Lausanne 1971
1973

L. Fischel, 'Von der Bildform der Französischen Impressionisten', Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen, XV, 1973, pp. 58-154
1980

J. Isaacson, The Crisis of Impressionism 1878-1882 (exh. cat. University of Michigan Museum of Art, 2 November 1979 - 6 January 1980), Ann Arbor 1980
1982

W. Gaunt, Renoir, Oxford 1982
1988

R.L. Herbert, Impressionism: Art, Leisure and Parisian Society, New Haven 1988
1989

A. Vollard, Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Paintings, Pastels and Drawings, San Francisco 1989
1989

National Gallery, 'Pictures Cleaned and Restored in the Conservation Department of the National Gallery, January 1989 – October 1992', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XIV, 1993, pp. 95-6
1990

D. Bomford, R. White and L. Williams, Impressionism (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 1990), London 1990
1991

J. Wilson-Bareau, 'Review: Art in the Making: Impressionism', The Burlington Magazine, CXXXIII/1055, 1991, pp. 127-9
1993

F.F. Frascina et al., Modernity and Modernism: French Painting in the Nineteenth Century, New Haven 1993
1993

R. White and J. Pilc, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XIV, 1993, pp. 86-94
1994

J. House, Impressionisim for England: Samuel Courtauld as Patron and Collector, London 1994
1994

'Art Purchases for the Nation: The Courtauld Fund: Modern Foreign Paintings', in J. House, Impressionism for England: Samuel Courtauld as Patron and Collector, London 1994
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2006

C. Riopelle, Manet to Picasso, London 2006
2006

S.M. Søndergaard, Women in Impressionism: From Mythical Feminine to Modern Woman (exh. cat. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 6 October 2006 - 21 January 2007), Milan 2006
2007

G.-P. Dauberville and M. Dauberville, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins, et aquarelles, Paris 2007
2008

E. Vegelin van Claerbergen and B. Wright, Renoir at the Theatre: Looking at La Loge, (exh. cat. The Courtauld Gallery, 21 February - 25 May 2008), London 2008

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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