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Artists in 60 Seconds: Pierre Bonnard

By Shelley Esaak, About.com

© 2006 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris; Used with permission

Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867-1947). Ambroise Vollard with His Cat, ca. 1924. Oil on canvas. 38 x 43 7/16 in. (96.5 x 111 cm). Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris.

© Photothèque des Musées de la Ville de Paris / Pierrain; © 2006 ARS, New York / ADAGP, Paris

Movement, Style, School or Type of Art:

Nabis

Date and Place of Birth:

October 3, 1867, Fontenay-aux-Roses (near Paris), France

Life:

An introspective and quiet man, Bonnard seems to have channeled his passion into the brilliant colors of his interior and still life paintings. (Well, color, and perhaps his apparent obsession with nudes.) Early Nabi works gave way to almost Fauvist use of color and perspectives that seemed to come from more than one point. Though his work, during his lifetime, was sometimes scorned as a throwback to the previous century, recent feeling is that he was a modern master and far ahead of his time.

Important Works:

  • Bowl of Fruit, 1933
  • Large Dining Room on the Garden, 1934-35
  • Nude in the Bath and Small Dog, ca. 1941-46
  • The Almond Tree in Blossom, 1945-47

Date and Place of Death:

January 27, 1947, Le Cannet, France

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