Early Life and Career
Pierre Bonnard, a French painter and printmaker, was born on October 3, 1867, in Fontenay-aux-Roses, Hauts-de-Seine. He led a happy and carefree youth as the son of a prominent official of the French Ministry of War. Bonnard's early work, such as
Woman in Checkered Dress (1890), shows the influence of Japanese prints.
The Nabis and Post-Impressionism
In 1891, Bonnard met Toulouse-Lautrec and began showing his work at the annual exhibition of the Société des Artistes Indépendants. He also started an association with
La Revue Blanche, designing frontispieces alongside Édouard Vuillard. Bonnard's talent was appreciated early in his career, with Claude Roger-Marx remarking in 1893 that he "catches fleeting poses, steals unconscious gestures, crystallises the most transient expressions."
Intimism and Domestic Scenes
Bonnard preferred to work from memory, using drawings as a reference, resulting in paintings characterized by a dreamlike quality. His intimate domestic scenes, often featuring his wife
Marthe de Meligny, have led to him being called an "Intimist." Bonnard's fondness for depicting everyday life has made him a unique figure in the Post-Impressionist movement.
Legacy and Later Life
Bonnard worked on numerous canvases simultaneously, allowing him to freely determine the shape of his paintings. He finished his last painting,
The Almond Tree in Blossom, a week before his death in 1947. A posthumous retrospective of Bonnard's work was organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1948.
Notable Works:
Museums featuring Bonnard's work: