The National Gallery

Mini Mug Umbrellas Renoir

Dimensions: 8cm x 7cm D

£10.00

The Umbrellas by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Made from fine bone china, these mini mugs are masterpieces – Literally! Using paintings from The National Gallery’s collection, Whitbread Wilkinson have married traditional art with functional design and, thankfully, the honeymoon period continues. The mugs also feature a coloured stripe inspired by a detail of the painting.
Depicting a busy Parisian street in the rain, the painting’s composition is, interestingly, not focused on the tangle of hands in the centre. This unconventional arrangement was not exclusive to Renoir, as several other Impressionists, including Degas, also experimented with alternative compositions. The Umbrellas shows Renoir at two differing points in his artistic career, the second being a moment of perplexity in which he reconsidered his painting style. To this day, moments of perplexity still exist for artists and philistines alike. Get through yours with this mini mug.