Bonnard - Hardcover

Watkins, Nicholas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0714828955 ISBN 13: 9780714828954

Publisher: Phaidon Press Ltd, 1994

Synopsis

Pierre Bonnard is best known as a painter of intimate, domestic interiors, but he was also a highly accomplished draughtsman who produced a wealth of lithographs and drawings. He began his career as a graphic artist, producing posters and illustrations for "La Revue Blanche" and other magazines. Associated with Maurice Denis, Edouard Vuillard and other members of the Nabis group from 1890, his early work is characterized by a tendency towards broad, flat decoration, derived from Japanese prints. From 1900, his palette became richer and his mature work achieves the level of intensity which has ensured his enduring reputation as one of the 20th century's great colourists. The author argues that Bonnard was not a sentimental survivor of Impressionism, but a highly demanding and innovative artist responding to new challenges. Nicholas Watkins has also written "Matisse".

About this title

Review

"Handsomely produced, good value and authoritative"―Modern Painters

From the Back Cover

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, Edouard Vuillard and other members of the Nabis group from 1890, his early work is characterized by a tendency towards broad, flat 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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Phaidon Press Ltd
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0714828955
• ISBN 13: 9780714828954
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240