The works of Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) are both accessible and impenetrable. They are steeped in a far-reaching attachment to the Impressionists, and a nod to the Les Nabi movement, but nevertheless remain unclassifiable and distinctive.
“What is peculiar about this free and impulsive art is that it slips away, as if playing around with a reality the artist cannot renounce”. Maurice Denis
Les Nabis and Japonism allowed Bonnard to explore solid colours and basic shapes, to affirm in his landscapes and still lifes his sharpening sense of composition as the years went by.
Glorifying daily life by painting cosy and backlit interiors, revealing the world of domestic intimacy in a series of nudes, Bonnard’s works send the onlooker straight into the crux of the artist's deep yet secret sensitivity.
Bonnard was also a wonderful colourist, who began exploring the wonders of daylight as soon as he moved to Le Cannet in 1927. The famous Atelier aux mimomas is a demonstration of this approach.
During the final years of his life, following the painful events of war, disease and the death of his wife Martha, his series of self-portraits poignantly sheds light on his huge strength, mingled with fragility.