Pierre Bonnard (French: [bɔnaʁ]; 3 October 1867 – 23 January 1947) was a French painterillustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color.[1] A founding member of the Post-Impressionist group of avant-garde painters Les Nabis,[2] his early work was strongly influenced by the work of Paul Gauguin, as well as the prints of Hokusai and other Japanese artists. Bonnard was a leading figure in the transition from Impressionism to Modernism. He painted landscapes, urban scenes, portraits and intimate domestic scenes, where the backgrounds, colors and painting style usually took precedence over the subject.[3][4]

Nude Against the Light (1908), Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

 

Early career – the Nabis

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Bonnard received pressure from a different direction to continue painting. While he had received his license to practice law in 1888, he failed in the examination for entering the official registry of lawyers.[13] Art was his only option. After the summer holidays, he joined with his friends from the Academy Julian to form Les Nabis, an informal group of artists with different styles and philosophies but common artistic ambitions. As he later wrote, Bonnard was entirely unaware of the Impressionist painters, or of Gauguin and other new painters.[13] His friend Paul Sérusier showed him a painting on a wooden cigar box he made after visiting Paul Gauguin at Pont-Aven, using patches of pure color in the style of Gauguin. In 1890, Maurice Denis, at age twenty, formalized the doctrine in which a painting was considered “a surface plane covered with colors assembled in a certain order.”[14]

Some of the Nabis had highly religious, philosophical or mystical approaches to their paintings, but Bonnard remained more cheerful and unaffiliated. The painter-writer Aurelien Lugné-Poe, who shared a studio at 28 rue Pigalle with Bonnard and Vuillard, wrote later, “Pierre Bonnard was the humorist among us; his nonchalant gaiety, and humor expressed in his productions, of which the decorative spirit always preserved a sort of satire, from which he later departed.”[15]

In 1891, he met Toulouse-Lautrec and, in December 1891, showed his work at the annual exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants. In the same year, Bonnard also began an association with La Revue Blanche, for which he and Édouard Vuillard designed a frontispiece.[16] In March 1891, his work was displayed with the work of the other Nabis at the Le Barc de Boutteville.[11]

The style of Japanese graphic arts became an important influence on Bonnard. In 1893, a major exposition of works of Utamaro and Hiroshige was held at the Durand-Ruel Gallery, and the Japanese influence, particularly the use of multiple points of view, and the use of bold geometric patterns in clothing, such as checkered blouses, began to appear in his work. Because of his passion for Japanese art, his nickname among the Nabis became Le Nabi le trés japonard.[11]

He devoted an increasing amount of attention to decorative art, designing furniture, fabrics, fans and other objects. He continued to design posters for France-Champagne, which gained him an audience outside the art world. In 1892, he began creating lithographs, and painted Le Corsage a carreaux and La Partie de croquet. He also made a series of illustrations for the music books of his brother-in-law, Claude Terrasse.

In 1894, he turned in a new direction and made a series of paintings of scenes of the life of Paris. In his urban scenes, the buildings and even animals were the focus of attention; faces were rarely visible. He also made his first portrait of his future wife, Marthe, whom he married in 1925.[11] In 1895, he became an early participant of the movement of Art Nouveau, designing a stained glass window, called Maternity, for Tiffany.[11]

In 1895, he had his first individual exposition of paintings, posters and lithographs at the Durand-Ruel Gallery. He also illustrated a novel, Marie, by Peter Nansen, published in series by in La Revue Blanche. The following year he participated in a group exposition of Nabis at the Amboise Vollard Gallery. In 1899, he took part in another major exposition of works of the Nabis.[11]

Later years (1900–1938)

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Throughout the early 20th century, as new artistic movements emerged, Bonnard kept refining and revising his personal style, and exploring new subjects and media, but keeping constant the characteristics of his work. Working in his studio at 65 rue de Douai in Paris, he presented paintings at the Salon des Independents in 1900, and also produced 109 lithographs for Parallèment, a book of poems by Paul Verlaine.[17] He also took part in an exhibition with the other Nabis at the Bernheim Jeaune gallery. He presented nine paintings at the Salon des Independents in 1901. In 1905, he produced a series of nudes and of portraits, and in 1906 had a personal exposition at the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery. In 1908, he illustrated a book of poetry by Octave Mirbeau, and made his first long stay in the South of France, at the home of the painter Manguin in Saint-Tropez. in 1909 and, in 1911, began a series of decorative panels, called Méditerranée, for the Russian art patron Ivan Morozov.[18]

During the years of the First World War, Bonnard concentrated on nudes and portraits, and in 1916 completed a series of large compositions, including La PastoraleMéditterranéeLa Paradis Terreste and Paysage de Ville. His reputation in the French art establishment was secure; in 1918 he was selected, along with Renoir, as an honorary President of the Association of Young French Artists.[18]

In the 1920s, he produced illustrations for a book by Andre Gide (1924) and another by Claude Anet (1923). He showed works at the Autumn Salon in 1923, and in 1924 was honored with a retrospective of sixty-eight of his works at the Galerie Druet. In 1925, he purchased a villa in Cannes.[18]

Japanism

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Nannies’ Promenade, decorative screen showing a procession of carriages with nurses and children (1897), National Gallery of Victoria. As in Japanese screens, the action is read from right to left.

Japanese art played an important part in Bonnard’s work. He was first able to see the works of Japanese artists via the Paris gallery of Siegfried Bing. Bing brought works by Hokusai and other Japanese print makers to France, and from May 1888 through April 1891 published a monthly art journal, Le Japon Artistique, which included color illustrations in 1891. In 1890, Bing organized an important exhibition of seven hundred prints he had brought from Japan, and made a donation of Japanese art to the Louvre.[20]

Bonnard used the model of Japanese kakemono scroll art—long, vertical panels—in his series of paintings Women in the garden (1890–91), now in the Museé d’Orsay. Originally designed to appear together as a single screen, Bonnard decided to display Women in the garden as four separate decorative panels. The female forms are reduced to flat silhouettes, and there is no rendering of depth in the picture. The faces are turned away from the viewer and the pictures are entirely dominated by the colors and bold patterns of the costumes and the backgrounds. The models are his sister Andreé and his cousin Berthe Schaedin.[21] Bonnard often pictured women in checkered blouses, a design he said he had discovered in Japanese prints.[20]

 

 

Pierre Bonnard’s Journey into Light: Landscapes 1894-1946

Pierre Bonnard’s Journey into Light: Landscapes 1894-1946

 Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), In Summer (1931), further details not known. Wikimedia Commons.

Today, Pierre Bonnard is probably most famous for his paintings of women, particularly those of Marthe in the bath, which I surveyed last week. Throughout his career, even from the years before he met Marthe, he was an avid landscape painter. In researching this series, I have been amazed at the many landscapes which he painted, not just in his later years at Le Cannet, but throughout the period that he worked primarily in the north of France.

Bonnard started painting as a resident in central Paris, and maintained a flat and studio there into his late years. He travelled extensively, though, and in the early twentieth century started to migrate slowly to the south of France, settling in the small town of Le Cannet. In this small selection of some of his finest landscapes, I give simply the title, year, and approximate location of the view.

I hope that you enjoy this unusual overview of more than fifty years of his work, which demonstrates how his style evolved, but confirms how little his paintings really changed, in comparison to the huge changes which took place in art over this period.

bonnardredroof
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), A Red Roof (1894), oil on canvas, 30 x 50.5 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

A Red Roof, 1894, near Le Grand-Lemps, Isère, eastern France.

bonnarddauphinelandscape1899
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Dauphiné Landscape (c 1899), oil on canvas, 45.5 x 56 cm, The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia. The Athenaeum.

Dauphiné Landscape, about 1899, near Le Grand-Lemps, Isère, eastern France.

bonnardvetheuil
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Vétheuil (c 1902), oil on canvas, 54 x 80.1 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

Vétheuil, about 1902, to the north-west of Paris.

bonnardinboat1907
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), In a Boat (c 1907), oil on canvas, 74 x 85 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

In a Boat, about 1907, possibly in the south of France.

bonnardearlyspring1908
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Early Spring (1908), oil on canvas, 87.6 x 132.1 cm, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. The Athenaeum.

Early Spring, 1908, possibly the Terrasse family, probably northern France.

bonnardterracegrasse
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), The Terrace at Grasse (1912), oil on cardboard, 125 x 134 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

The Terrace at Grasse, 1912, Grasse, inland of Cannes, south-eastern France.

bonnardblueseinevernon
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Blue Seine at Vernon (1912), oil on canvas, 46.7 x 69.5 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

Blue Seine at Vernon, 1912, Vernon, near Giverny, north-west of Paris.

bonnardgardenvernonnet
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), The Garden at Vernonnet (1915), oil on canvas, 61 x 53.8 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

The Garden at Vernonnet, 1915, Vernon, near Giverny, north-west of Paris.

bonnardhousebypath1918
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), House by the Path on the Cliff (1918), oil on panel, 36.8 x 45.7 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

House by the Path on the Cliff, 1918, probably northern France.

bonnardpastoralsymphony1920
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Pastoral Symphony (1916-20), oil on canvas, 130 x 160 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

Pastoral Symphony, 1916-20, location not known.

bonnardriviera1923
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), The Riviera (c 1923), oil on canvas, 79 x 76.2 cm, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. The Athenaeum.

The Riviera, about 1923, southern France.

bonnardlandscapemountains1924
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Landscape with Mountains (1924), oil on canvas, 40 x 59 cm, The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. The Athenaeum.

Landscape with Mountains, 1924, location not known.

bonnardlecannetviewpinkhouse
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Le Cannet, View from the Pink House (1926), oil on canvas, 40 x 55.3 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

Le Cannet, View from the Pink House, 1926, Le Cannet, south coast of France.

bonnardlecannet1930
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), View of Le Cannet (c 1930), oil on board on cradled board, 44.5 x 37.5 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

View of Le Cannet, about 1930, Le Cannet, south coast of France.

bonnardbreakfastroom1931
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), The Breakfast Room (Dining Room Overlooking the Garden) (1930-31), oil on canvas, 159.7 x 113.98 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. The Athenaeum.

The Breakfast Room (Dining Room Overlooking the Garden), 1930-31, location not known.

bonnardinsummer1931
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), In Summer (1931), further details not known. Wikimedia Commons.

In Summer, 1931, probably Le Cannet, south coast of France.

bonnardlandscapelecannet1938
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Landscape at Le Cannet (1938), oil on canvas, 52 x 72 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

Landscape at Le Cannet, 1938, Le Cannet, south coast of France.

bonnardpanoramalebosquet
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Panoramic View of Cannet (The Blue Mountain) (c 1942-44), gouache, watercolour and pencil on paper, 34.3 x 50.2 cm, Private collection. The Athenaeum.

Panoramic View of Le Cannet or The Blue Mountain, 1942-44, Le Cannet, south coast of France.

bonnardstudiomimosa
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), The Studio at Le Cannet, with Mimosa (1938-46), oil on canvas, 127.5 x 127.5 cm, Musée National d’Art Moderne de Paris, Paris. The Athenaeum.

The Studio at Le Cannet, with Mimosa, 1938-46, Le Cannet, south coast of France.

References

Guy Cogeval and Isabelle Cahn (2016) Pierre Bonnard, Painting Arcadia, Prestel. ISBN 978 3 791 35524 5.
Gilles Genty and Pierrette Vernon (2006) Bonnard Inédits, Éditions Cercle d’Art (in French). ISBN 978 2 702 20707 9.
Timothy Hyman (1998) Bonnard, World of Art, Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978 0 500 20310 1.

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