Offered by JENNESS CORTEZ

“La Belle Vie” © by Jenness Cortez

Elements of my painting include Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s (1841-1919) “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” 1881, Phillips Collection, Washington, DC; his “Portrait of Mme. Monet,” Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA; and a Staffordshire creamware tea pot, England, mid-18th century. In 1881, the year Renoir’s “Boating Party” was painted, Paris was a freshly modernized city, and its suburbs offered ease and outdoor pleasures that attracted celebrated artists, writers and theatre people. Home to their many gatherings was the balcony of the Maison Fournaise, a hotel overlooking the river Seine. Renoir chose that balcony as the venue for his imagined carefree luncheon. His friends represent a who’s who of the cultural life of Paris. The recognizable faces include the comedienne Ellen Andree and actress Jeanne Samary, the well-known art critic Charles Ephrussi, Renoir’s friend and fellow artist Gustave Caillebotte, the actress known as Mademoiselle Angele, journalist Adrien Maggiolo, and Alphonse and Alphonsine Fournaise, the son and daughter of the hotel’s owner. Following in Renoir’s love of life and craft, I chose to honor those artisans who made the 18th century Staffordshire teapot, the chocolatier who made the truffles, the tulip farmer, glass blower and clock maker. And finally, I chose an intricately carved frame for Renoir’s masterpiece–one that closely resembles the frame he commissioned for his own work. — JENNESS CORTEZ