Pierre Bonnard was extremely precocious. In his early twenties he made his initial contribution to the history of modern art as a founder member of the Nabi group, whose first exhibition opened in Paris in December 1891. Inspired by Gauguin, Symbolism and Japanese prints, he evolved a highly decorative style based on the direct observation of nature which has come to be seen as a new departure, conveniently filling the gap between the end of Impressionism and the advent in 1905 of Fauvism, the first movement of twentieth-century modernism. Yet he went on to develop an art that has been taken to have much in common with Impressionism; so much so, in fact, that the catalogues of successive retrospective exhibitions of his work have characterized him as the last of the Impressionists....

Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) is acknowledged as one of the great masters of twentieth-century painting. Best-known as a painter of intimate, domestic interiors, he was also a highly accomplished draughtsman and graphic artist who produced a wealth of drawings and lithographs.

In fact Bonnard began his career as a graphic artist, producing posters and illustrations for such magazines as La Revue Blanche. Associated with Maurice Denis, l~douard Vuillard and other members of the Nabis group from 1890, his early work is characterized by a tendency towards broad, fiat colour and asymmetrical composition derived from Gauguin and from Japanese prints. From 1900 his palette became richer and his subject-matter settled into a range of obsessive themes - principally landscapes,nudes and interiors - in which he explored ever more complex formal problems and developed an unparalleled mastery of colour and light. His mature work achieves a level of dazzling intensity which has ensured his enduring reputation as one of the twentieth century's great colourists.

In this important reassessment of Bonnard's life and work, Nicholas Watkins argues that Bonnard was not a sentimental survivor of Impressionism as some have claimed, but a highly demanding and innovative artist responding to new formal challenges.Paintings, graphic work and sketches are comprehensively reproduced and examined in depth, providing a definitive study of this highly influential but frequently misunderstood artist.

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1   The early years

Chapter 2   A time of experiment: between city and country

Chapter 3   Realism and idealism: north versus south

Chapter 4   The internal paradise

Chapter 5   The final years

Notes

Bibliography

Index of works by Bonnard

General index

Photographic acknowledgements