Claude Lorrain Masterpiece Public Display
A Claude Lorrain masterpiece, *Les Bergeres Musiciens*, is on public display for the first time in a century at The Holburne, marking a rare chance for art lovers to view this important pastoral landscape. The upcoming "Renoir and Love" exhibition opens at Musée d'Orsay March 17, before traveling to London and Boston.
Claude Lorrain's work, officially titled *Pastoral Landscape with Shepherds Playing Music by a River*, was created around 1637 for the French envoy in Rome, Etienne Gueffier. The painting is recorded in Lorrain's *Liber Veritatis*, a personal record book of his completed works, which is now housed in the British Museum. The current display at The Holburne marks the first time the public has seen the painting in a century; its last exhibition was at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Paris exactly 100 years ago. The museum's director, Dr. Chris Stephens, has called the piece the most significant individual loan in the museum's history. The painting is a highlight of the museum's new 17th-Century Gallery and is part of a long-term loan from the Schroder family collection. Other works in the gallery include portraits by Justus Sustermans and Cornelis van der Voort, and landscapes by Jan van Goyen and Aert van der Neer. The "Renoir and Love" exhibition will travel to the National Gallery in London from October 3, 2026, to January 31, 2027, before its final stop at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston from February 20 to June 13, 2027. This marks the first major retrospective of Renoir's work in France since 1985. The exhibition will feature over 50 of Renoir's works from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s, focusing on themes of modern life, affection, and friendship. Iconic masterpieces such as *Bal du Moulin de la Galette*, *The Umbrellas*, and *Luncheon of the Boating Party* will be included. For the first time, *Bal du Moulin de la Galette* will be exhibited in the United Kingdom.
