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PIERRE BONNARD (1867-1947)

 
PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. PIERRE BONNARD - Soleil Couchant - oil on canvas - 14 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.
Soleil Couchant192014 1/2 x 22 1/2 in.(36.83 x 57.15 cm) oil on canvas
Provenance
Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, acquired from the artist in 1920
Georges Besnard, acquired from the above
Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, acquired from the above in 1927
Mr. Worcester, Chicago, acquired from the above
E. & A. Silberman Galleries, New York
Knoedler Gallery, New York
Michael J. Miller, Cleveland, acquired by 1988
Salander O'Reilly Gallery, New York
Private Collection, acquired from the above
Literature
Jean & Henry Dauberville, Bonnard, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint 1920-1939, vol. III, Paris, 1973, no...More.... 998, illustrated p. 36
 
...LESS... Price550,000
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“A painting that is well composed is half finished.” – Pierre Bonnard

History

Pierre Bonnard moved on artistically when Les Nabis, the group of artists who ushered Impressionists into the 20th century and modernism disbanded by 1900. Yet the influence of those early years never completely dissipated. Soleil Couchant, painted two decades later, takes us back to a time when Paul Sérusier shared with Bonnard a brightly colored, nearly abstract sketch he had painted under the watchful eye of Paul Gauguin. That sketch, Le Talisman, emulated the expressive color and bold patterns of Gauguin, emphasized decorative unity, and most importantly for Bonnard, represented not a representation of a scene, but a painter’s visual sensations. More importantly, perhaps, it was Bonnard who acquired the nickname “le Nabi trés Japonard,” or, “the ultra-Japanese Nabi.”  He had been introduced to ukiyo-e woodblock prints at Goupil Gallery and became infatuated with their decorative contours, flattened color, asymmetrical compositions, and Bokashi, the graduated color transitions that are probably the ukiyo-e’s most recognizable and evocative technique. Japonisme, a French artist’s interpretation of the aesthetic, liberated Bonnard from western conventions and enabled him to produce intimate works reflecting his personal temperament.

From 1910 onward, Bonnard spent a great deal of time on the coasts of St. Tropez, Cannes, and Antibes. Soleil Couchant is presumed to have been painted near one of these coastal towns. Rather than work in the open air in the manner of the Impressionists, Bonnard mastered the ability to paint from sketches, photographs, and the power of his imagination. He was also renowned for retouching paintings and constantly subjecting them to changes, sometimes radically changing his original conception. He was obsessive in this behavior, so much so that on a visit to the Luxembourg Museum, he persuaded his friend Édouard Vuillard to distract the guards while he surreptitiously retouched one of his paintings that had been in the collection for several years.

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“One always talks of surrendering to nature. There is also such a thing as surrendering to the picture.” – Pierre Bonnard

MARKET INSIGHTS

  • BonnardAMR
  • The rate of return for the Bonnard Art Index since 1976 is 401.2%. Bonnard has proven to be a consistent performer at auction, and on the private market.
  • Bonnard was a central figure of the Nabis group, he is cemented in the canon of art history.
  • Bonnard is represented in several dozen prominent museum collections, as well as some of the top private art collections internationally.
  • Bonnard is part of an elite group of artists to sell for more than $15 million USD.

Top Results at Auction

Oil on canvas, 49 1/4 x 52 7/8 in. Sold at Christie's New York: May 2019.

"La Terrasse ou Une terrasse à Grasse" (1912) sold for $19,570,000.

Oil on canvas, 49 1/4 x 52 7/8 in. Sold at Christie’s New York: May 2019.
Oil on canvas, 47 1/4 x 41 5/8 in. Sold at Christie's London: February 2011.

"Terrasse à Vernon" (1923) sold for $11,598,000.

Oil on canvas, 47 1/4 x 41 5/8 in. Sold at Christie’s London: February 2011.
Oil on canvas, 28 1/2 x 33 in. Sold at Sotheby’’s London: June 2010.

"Le petit déjeuner, radiateur" (c. 1930) sold for $9,207,000.

Oil on canvas, 28 1/2 x 33 in. Sold at Sotheby’’s London: June 2010.
Oil on canvas, 40 x 46 in. Sold at Sotheby's London: June 2006.

"Deux corbeilles de fruits" (1906-1907) sold for $7,637,909.

Oil on canvas, 40 x 46 in. Sold at Sotheby’s London: June 2006.

Comparable Paintings Sold at Auction

Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 x 23 in. Sold at Christie's New York: November 2008.

"Le jardin sous la neige, soleil couchant" (c. 1910) sold for $422,500.

Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 x 23 in. Sold at Christie’s New York: November 2008.
  • Painted about ten years before Soleil Couchant
  • Somewhat larger than Soleil Couchant
  • Similar horizontal composition
  • Similar landscape at sunset subject
Oil on canvas, 24 by 21 1/8 in. Sold at Sotheby's New york: May 2014.

"Jardin à Vernonnet" (1915) sold for $365,000.

Oil on canvas, 24 by 21 1/8 in. Sold at Sotheby’s New york: May 2014.
  • Painted five years before Soleil Couchant
  • Somewhat larger than Soleil Couchant
  • Similar horizontal composition
  • Similar landscape at sunset subject
Oil on canvas, 14 5/8 x 23 5/8 in. Sold at Sotheby's Paris: October 2017

"Paysage au soleil couchant" (1916) sold for $213,612.

Oil on canvas, 14 5/8 x 23 5/8 in. Sold at Sotheby’s Paris: October 2017
  • Painted four years before Soleil Couchant
  • Roughly the same size as Soleil Couchant
  • Similar horizontal composition
  • Similar landscape at sunset subject

Paintings in Museum Collections

Glasgow Life Museums

“The Edge of the Forest” (c. 1918), oil on panel, 14 5/8 x 18 in.

Art Institute of Chicago

“Earthly Paradise” (1916-1920), oil on canvas, 51 1/4 x 63 in.

Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

“The Dipping Path” (c. 1922), oil over pencil on canvas, 18 1/4 x 21 3/4 in.

Kimbell Art Museum, Texas

“Landscape at Le Cannet” (1928), oil on canvas, 50 3/8 × 109 1/2 in.

Musée d'Orsay, Paris

“Couchant, bord de rivière” (1917), oil on canvas, 15 3/4 x 24 in.
“Art will never be able to exist without nature.” – Pierre Bonnard

Authentication

Image Gallery

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Additional Resources

Eight Essentials to Know About Pierre Bonnard

The Tate, London shares everything you need to know about this French painter.

Pierre Bonnard 'the painter of happiness'

See BBC Newsnight’s reporting on the Tate 2019 exhibition of Bonnard’s paintings.

Pierre Bonnard: The Late Interiors

See the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2009 exhibition of paintings by Pierre Bonnard.

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