Lecture | Colin B. Bailey: Renoir's Creative Process

Renoir’s paintings are icons of Impressionism, but his drawings, watercolors, and pastels are far less widely known. In fact, drawing remained central to his artistic practice over the course of a long and varied career. In this lecture, Dr. Colin B. Bailey, Katharine J. Rayner Director of the Morgan and curator of Renoir Drawings, will explore the ways in which Renoir used paper to test ideas, plan compositions, and interpret landscapes and the human figure, practices that afford insights into the artist’s creative process.

This lecture will take place in Gilder Lehrman Hall on the Ground Floor. Doors to the Hall will open 30 minutes before the program begins. While registration is encouraged, seating is on a first come, first served basis. Renoir Drawings will be open to visitors before and after the lecture.

Colin B. Bailey has served as the Director of the Morgan Library & Museum since 2015. A scholar of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century French art, he is a specialist of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and has been responsible for many publications and exhibitions. He was made an Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2010, and in 2020 was awarded the Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature françaises by the Académie française. Among the many initiatives Bailey has spearheaded are the celebration of the Morgan’s centennial, the exterior restoration of J. Pierpont Morgan’s Library, and the inauguration of the Belle da Costa Greene Curatorial Fellowships, created for promising schools from historically underrepresented communities in the curatorial and special collections fields.

Please e-mail public_programs@themorgan.org with questions about accessibility.