PIERRE BONNARD (1867-1947)

Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947) was a French painter, printmaker, and designer celebrated for his luminous color and intimate, poetic depictions of everyday life. Born in Fontenay-aux-Roses near Paris, he initially studied law before turning to art, enrolling at the Académie Julian and the École des Beaux-Arts. There he formed close friendships with artists including Édouard Vuillard and Maurice Denis and became a founding member of Les Nabis, a group that emphasized decorative pattern, flat color, and expressive form.

Bonnard first gained recognition for posters, prints, and illustrations, but he is best known for paintings of domestic interiors, still lifes, landscapes, and scenes featuring his lifelong companion and wife, Marthe. Over time, his work moved beyond the Nabi aesthetic toward a highly personal style that blended Impressionist light with intensely saturated color, often painted from memory rather than direct observation.

In his later years, Bonnard lived primarily in the south of France, particularly in Le Cannet, where he continued to paint until his death in 1947. He is regarded as one of the great colorists of modern art and a key figure bridging Impressionism and twentieth-century modernism.