Pierre
Bonnard was born in
Fontenay-aux-Roses not
far from Paris. He was a
law student before
transferring to the
Beaux-Arts, and he later
attended the Academie
Julian. Bonnard's
earliest works were
theatrical sets,
furniture decorations,
screens, and posters,
for he shared a studio
with a theatrical
producer. He also
contributed regularly to
periodicals and did
illustrations for books.
o§ He had his first
exhibition of paintings
in 1896. Bonnard, like
Vuillard, with whom he
was always closely
linked, was an "intimist,"
a painter constantly
delighted by the most
ordinary objects and
actions, to which he
brought a constant
freshness.
Bonnard was attracted
by the color of the
Impressionists, but
unlike them he was not
so dazzled by color as
to forget form and
reality. He worked much
more slowly, capturing
on canvas his own
rebellion against
current styles of art
and predetermined
theories. Bonnard's
palette is virtually a
rainbow, with pearly
flesh tones and shadows
that range from pinks,
blues, and golds to
opaque grays or deep
blues. His paintings
transpose solids and
transparencies, light
and shade. They have an
abstract structural
quality that is both
decorative and
satisfying in its use of
space, a style that
foreshadows the works of
Matisse.
