Pierre Bonnard

A French painter, graphic artist and designer, who entered the history of fine art as one of the brightest colourists of the late 19th – the first half of the 20th centuries.

The artist was born into the family of a high-ranking official. Received a legal education, on which his parents insisted. Then he received an art education.

Bonnard belongs to the second generation of French Impressionists. Together with J. Vuillard, P. Serusier and M. Denis, Bonnard organized the famous group of artists named “Nabis”, whose members, admiring the art of Japanese engraving, sought to simplify painting, working with planes of pure colour and avoiding the randomness inherent in the first wave of Impressionism. At the end of his life, Pierre Bonnard departed from the fundamental principles of “Nabis” and turned to more saturated colour combinations, creating exquisite colourful compositions. The artist painted landscapes, still lifes, interiors in an easy impressionistic manner.

Key ideas:

– The representative of the late Impressionism, Pierre Bonnard often criticized his companions for the fuzzy composition and the naturalism of colour in their canvases. The artist has always sought to create something new, to find special artistic means, which would convey the reality as expressively as possible.

– The aesthetics of the Nabis group, at the origins of which Bonnard stood, proclaimed the absolute power of the colour principle, decorativeness, a return to the simple creation of the people, stylization and the flat-line representation of forms. “Nabists” was greatly influenced by Japanese engraving, which is the most clearly shown in the works of Bonnard.

– The canvases of Pierre Bonnard were highly appreciated by his contemporaries, who called him “the most picturesque painter.” The artist masterfully worked with colour, his paintings in soft, subdued tones depict modern interiors, Mediterranean and urban landscapes, scenes from everyday life.

– Bonnard paid particular attention to the inner, intimate life of a woman, depicting a nude model while bathing in the bathroom, relaxing in the house, or her daily activities. Bonnar and several other participants of the creative group “Nabis” are often called “intimists” for their desire to poetize the everyday reality.

– A translucent haze surrounds the objects of his paintings, and the combinations of colours are often whimsical and intricate. His favourite themes are nature and naked female models; many of his paintings are devoted to the street life of Paris.

– The main thing in the artist’s later works was not an image, but a light that fills the whole picture. Colour combinations and contrasts – this is the main theme of the late works of Bonnard, no matter what movement and style they relate to. “Our God is light. Once upon a time, you will understand what this means,” he wrote in a letter to a young artist.