ARTWORKS

At the Theatre (La Première Sortie)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)

The National Gallery, London

At the Theatre (La Première Sortie)

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Order a print

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

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.

The National Gallery, London

London

Read more on The National Gallery, London
Title

At the Theatre (La Première Sortie)

Date

1876-7

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 65 x W 49.5 cm

Accession number

NG3859

Acquisition method

Bought, 1923

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Learn more Tag this
Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue

Artist or maker

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

1841–1919

View profile
  • Coco
    Coco Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (GMRC)
  • Madame Valentine Fray (1870–1943)
    Madame Valentine Fray (1870–1943) Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
  • Still Life
    Still Life Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
  • Madame Renoir (1859–1915)
    Madame Renoir (1859–1915) Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
  • The Painter's Garden
    The Painter's Garden Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
  • Coco
    Coco Charleston
  • A Garden in Montmartre
    A Garden in Montmartre Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
  • 64 more

Topics

Stories