Pierre Bonnard

1867-1947

European Artist

Bonnard was born in Fontenay-aux-Roses not far from Paris. He was a law student before transferring to the Beaux-Arts, and he later attended the Academie Julian. Bonnard's earliest works were theatrical sets, furniture decorations, screens, and posters, for he shared a studio with a theatrical producer. He had his first exhibition of paintings in 1896. Bonnard was an "intimist," a painter constantly delighted by the most ordinary objects and actions, to which he brought a constant freshness. Bonnard was attracted by the color of the Impressionists, but unlike them he was not so dazzled by color as to forget form and reality. He worked much more slowly, capturing on canvas his own rebellion against current styles of art and predetermined theories. Bonnard's palette is virtually a rainbow, with pearly flesh tones and shadows that range from pinks, blues, and golds to opaque grays or deep blues. His paintings transpose solids and transparencies, light and shade. They have an abstract structural quality that is both decorative and satisfying in its use of space, a style that foreshadows the works of Matisse.