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Renoir haters protest outside Boston museum

While chanting "Sharpies are for protest signs, not depicting children's eyes," anti-Renior protesters picketed outside the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston on Monday. The protest, albeit small in size, was led by members of the 'Renoir Sucks at Painting Movement for Cultural Justice.'
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Anti-Renoir protesters picket outside the Museum of Fine Arts Boston on October 5, 2015. The group says Pierre-August Renoir was a terrible painter and should be removed from fine arts museums. (Max Geller/Renoir_Sucks_at_Painting)

While chanting "Sharpies are for protest signs, not depicting children's eyes," anti-Renoir protesters picketed outside the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston on Monday. The protest, albeit small in size, was led by members of the 'Renoir Sucks at Painting Movement for Cultural Justice.'

Max Geller is the spokesperson for the group. He's also the creator of the Instagram account Renoir Sucks at Painting. As he tells As it Happens host Carol Off, he finds Renoir's paintings awful to look at.

"If you took Renoir's word for it, trees would be nothing more than disgusting, squiggly lines. And the human eyeball would be jet black as though coloured in by a Sharpie," says Geller.

While Geller has a sense of humour about the protest, he is serious when he says Renoir is just plain bad as a painter and has no place in a fine arts museum.

An anti-Renoir protester pickets outside the Museum of Fine Arts Boston on October 5, 2012. The sign is a parody of picket signs often used by the Westboro Baptist Church. (Max Geller/Renoir_Sucks_at_Painting)

"When we bring our children to art museums, we are telling them that this is the best we have to offer. This is the zenith. And to dilute that zenith with empty calories and treacle that's rife in Renoir's work, I think it does a real disservice to our collective cultural wealth."

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