Ernst & Young brings Renoir Landscapes to the National Gallery

London 1 November 2006: Ernst & Young is to sponsor Renoir Landscapes 1865 – 1883 at the National Gallery, London – the first major exhibition of the artist’s landscape paintings.

Renoir Landscapes will run from 21 February – 20 May 2007. It is the thirteenth major exhibition that Ernst & Young has been associated with and the second collaboration with the National Gallery. The first was Vermeer and the Delft School, 2001.

The French painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, is arguably one of the most audacious and original landscape artists of his age, whose influence can still be felt today. The show brings together over 70 paintings from across Europe and the USA with many works from private collections.

Mark Otty, UK Chairman of Ernst & Young, said: “We’re delighted to be involved in this celebration of a great artist and to be working with the National Gallery again. This comprehensive exhibition gives significant insight into a remarkable talent, and one that deserves to be showcased to as wide an audience as possible.”

“Ernst & Young has been sponsoring and supporting the arts for almost thirteen years and it has become an integral part of our culture. Renoir Landscapes is a continuation of our ongoing commitment to the arts in the UK, including corporate memberships of galleries and museums and community art initiatives, and we are very proud that our support makes it possible to give the public access to world-class exhibitions.”

As part of the sponsorship programme, Ernst & Young will be running events for its clients and business contacts as well as its people and their family. There will also be a series of workshops and talks in the workplace. All staff throughout the UK will be given free access to the exhibition to allow them to become actively involved in the exhibition programme.

Ernst & Young’s previous art sponsorship includes:

• Rodin (2006), currently on show at the Royal Academy of Arts
• TurnerWhistlerMonet (2005), by far the most visited exhibition ever at Tate Britain
• Art of the Garden (2004), Tate Britain’s most successful theme exhibition ever
• Turner’s Britain (2003/04), Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery’s second most popular exhibition
• Art Deco 1910-1939 (2003), the V&A’s most popular exhibition ever
• Matisse Picasso (2002), Tate Britain’s most popular exhibition ever
• Vermeer and the Delft School (2001), the National Gallery’s second most popular paid for exhibition
• Monet in the 20th Century (1999), at the Royal Academy of Arts, the most popular art exhibition ever held in Britain
• Burne-Jones (1998/99), which was the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery most successful exhibition
• Bonnard (1998), the seventh most popular Tate exhibition
• Cézanne (1996), the second most popular Tate exhibition; and
• Picasso (1994), the sixth most popular Tate exhibition.

Ernst & Young also sponsored the Visitor Centre at Tate Modern, Bankside, prior to the Gallery’s opening in 2000.

Art Matters,
The Art Matters, initiative, now in its sixth year, was born out of Ernst & Young's wish to strengthen and widen our commitment to the arts and to link this support with our community investment programme. The partnership with NCH takes art into new areas and to wider audiences, while tapping into and developing new talent. It also enables our people across the country, to fulfill their desire to give back to their local community by volunteering with the initiative. This is the sixth year of the Art Matters initiative, which ran in conjunction with the Vermeer and the Delft School exhibition at the National Gallery in 2001, the Matisse Picasso exhibition at Tate Modern in 2002, the Art Deco 1910-1939 exhibition at the V&A Museum in 2003 and Art of the Garden at Tate Britain in 2004 and the TurnerWhistlerMonet exhibition at Tate Britain in 2005. All were sponsored by Ernst & Young.