Pierre Bonnard
Born – Fontenay-aux-Roses, France 1867
Died – Le Cannet, France 1947
Pierre Bonnard came to Paris in 1888 where he studied at the Academic Julien and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He met Denis, Vuillard and others who, influenced by Gauguin’s expressive use of colour and pattern, formed a group called the Nabis, from a Hebrew word meaning prophets. He exhibited and was associated with the group until 1899. Representational modelling and perspective were rejected in favour of decoration and flat, rhythmical description of form. This was inspired by Art Nouveau and the current vogue for Japanese prints. He admired the exuberance and passion in the work of van Gogh and in 1903, in support of artistic developments of similar intensity, he co-founded the Salon d’Automne, organised by the Fauves. What he learned from these artists he subtly absorbed within his own refined, intimate paintings of interiors. Mirror on the Washstand reveals Bonnard contemplating a typical domestic subject. Bathed in the southern light of Le Cannet, where he worked from 1926, stands Marthe, his wife, whom he often used as his model. Although the spirit of the work is cognisant of the achievements of Impressionism he constructed a shimmering recollection rather than a direct record of his subjects.
Masterpieces:
- The Table
- Nude in a Bathroom
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About pierre bonnard
Pierre Bonnard
Evelyn Benesch
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Pierre Bonnard: The Work of Art, Suspending Time
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Pierre Bonnard: The Late Still Lifes and Interiors (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
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