Carnaby Street transforms 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. 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 audiences to engage with an iconic piece of artwork in an accessible way.
Revealed today and in place until March 2027, the mural continues Carnaby Street’s evolving programme of culture-led experiences, bringing art into the public realm and creating new moments of discovery within the street.
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. The artwork, reimagined at mural scale (5 x 3 metres) on the corner of Carnaby Street and Ganton Street, translates seamlessly into the architecture of the street, creating a striking visual moment within an urban landscape.
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.
This latest initiative continues Soho and Carnaby Street’s commitment to curating cultural experiences across Soho and Carnaby Street. It reinforces the area as a destination that goes beyond retail and hospitality to champion creativity, community and shared experience, while celebrating one of the UK’s most important cultural institutions ahead of the Renoir & Love exhibition later this year.
Catherine Riccomini, Director of Marketing and Communications at Shaftesbury Capital, said: “Renoir’s The Umbrellas captures people, fashion and the movement of everyday city life, so there’s something wonderfully fitting about seeing it reimagined on Carnaby Street. This has always been a place where creativity and self-expression play out in public, but also for the unexpected – somewhere people come to discover something new. Working with the National Gallery to bring a masterpiece of Impressionism onto the street creates exactly that kind of unexpected encounter, connecting one of London’s great cultural institutions with the energy and creativity of Carnaby Street today.”
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.”
