Bonnard: 0000 - Softcover

Watkins, Nicholas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0714834513 ISBN 13: 9780714834511

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 1996

Synopsis

The intimate domestic interiors of Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) are universally popular with art lovers. Less well known is his highly accomplished early work as an illustrator. His strongly coloured and boldly designed paintings of the 1890s, when he was associated with the Nabis group of painters, demonstrate his subtle energy and his acute sensitivity.

In this monumental reassessment of Bonnard's life and work, Nicholas Watkins sets forth in a refreshing and dextrously argued thesis that Bonnard was not a sentimental survivor of Impressionism as some have claimed, but a highly innovative artist, constantly responding to new formal challenges, and one of the twentieth century's greatest colourists. Paintings, graphic work, lithographs and sketches are reproduced and examined in depth, providing a definitive study of this foremost and highly influential artist. This volume comprises an up-to-date, original and significant interpretation of this artist's dynamic career, displaying Watkins' own eloquence and intellectual rigour as well as the sophistication and unusual aestheticism of Bonnard.

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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0714834513
• ISBN 13: 9780714834511
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240