Renoir’s The Umbrellas
Carnaby Street has collaborated with the National Gallery and Global Street Art to bring a free, large-scale reimagining of Renoir’s The Umbrellas into the heart of the West End.
Carnaby Street has transformed into an open-air gallery this autumn, as Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s iconic The Umbrellas is reimagined as a 5 x 3 metre mural at the corner of Carnaby Street and Ganton Street. Read on to learn more...
Delivered in partnership with the National Gallery and Global Street Art, the installation brings one of the world’s most celebrated Impressionist works beyond the walls of the gallery into the everyday life of one of London’s most distinctive streets.
Part of Murals reMastered in collaboration with the National Gallery and Global Street Art, a nationwide initiative connecting masterpieces with the community, the Carnaby Street mural invites people to engage with an iconic piece of artwork.
Paul Gray, Deputy Director & Chief Operating Officer, The National Gallery said,
"As part of our Murals reMastered programme, the National Gallery is delighted to bring Renoir's The Umbrellas out into the streets of London, offering people a new way to encounter one of the most recognisable works in our collection. Public art has the power to make culture feel immediate and accessible, and seeing this much-loved painting recreated on such a scale creates an exciting opportunity for audiences to engage with Renoir beyond the Gallery's walls. Carnaby Street feels a particularly fitting setting, creating an unexpected dialogue between Impressionism and contemporary creative culture in the heart of the West End."
Reimagining The Umbrellas at mural scale is both a creative challenge and an exciting opportunity to introduce a new audience to a masterpiece and Carnaby Street is the perfect canvas for the work.
Phillip Hulme, Head of Development, Global Street Art
Originally painted between 1881 and 1886, The Umbrellas captures a fleeting moment of urban life: a crowd gathered beneath a canopy of umbrellas, shaped by movement, individuality and evolving social structures.
The focus on fashion, people and movement finds its natural home on Carnaby Street. The umbrella motif itself also carries a particular resonance in London, both practical and symbolic, reflecting the rhythm and character of the city.
Renoir’s The Umbrellas will feature in the National Gallery’s autumn blockbuster exhibition Renoir and Love (3 October 2025 – 31 January 2027), celebrating the artist’s gift for capturing love, friendship and everyday emotion in Impressionist France. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Umbrellas, about 1881-6. Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917, The National Gallery, London. In partnership with Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin. The mural gives Londoners and visitors an early glimpse at the artwork, alongside behind the scenes content, timelapse footage of the installation and photography capturing the transformation of Carnaby Street into a living canvas.
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