Luncheon of the Boating Party Luncheon of the Boating Party Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881; ) is a painting by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Included in the Seventh Impressionist Exhibition in 1882, it was identified as the best painting in the show by three critics. It was purchased from the artist by the dealer-patron Paul Durand-Ruel and bought in 1923 (for $125,000) from his son by industrialist Duncan Phillips, who spent a decade in pursuit of the work. It is now in The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. It shows a richness of form, a fluidity of brush stroke, and a flickering light. The
Book and Author Luncheon was held at a variety of locations in Manhattan, most frequently at the Waldorf Astoria. Though it predominantly featured authors as speakers, it drew from a wide variety of notable figures during its 31-year run. Some of its famous guest speakers include Vladimir Nabokov, James A. Michener, Jane Jacobs, Robert Moses, Rachel Carson, John Kenneth Galbraith, Sammy Davis Jr., Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and Marian Anderson, among many, many others. It was hosted for the majority of its run by New York Herald Tribune Book Review editor Irita Bradford Van Doren. Book and Author Luncheon The Book and Author Luncheon