Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867–1947)
Flowers on the Mantelpiece, 1930
Oil on canvas
Purchased in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore A.
Cooke, 1974 (4224.1)
A painter of color, light, and decorative effect, Pierre
Bonnard looked past the appearance of the natural
world to its fundamental, underlying components, and
he explored the expressive potential of line, color,
shape, and design. Although a law student, Bonnard
became a professional artist in 1889, after creating an
influential poster design for a champagne company and
joining the Nabis, a group of avant-garde artists
inspired by Paul Gauguin and Japanese prints.
Preferring the intimacy and familiarity of the domestic
interior over the contrived artificiality of the studio,
Bonnard composed still-lifes, such as this arrangement
of decorative objects and a vase of flowers, on table
tops and other household surfaces. Typical of his late
work, abstraction and individual expression have taken
over, as Bonnard pushes the boundaries of Modernism. |