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Lot Essay
“I have become a painter of landscapes, not because I have painted landscapes—I have done only a few—but because I have acquired the soul of a landscape painter insofar as I have been able to free myself of everything picturesque, aesthetical or any other convention that has been poisoning me” (Bonnard in 1935, quoted in “Some Thoughts on Pierre Bonnard,” Bonnard, exh. cat., Galerie Salis, Salzburg, 1991, n.p.).
As seen in the present work, Bonnard deployed a highly individual style, which flounced conventions of colour and form, focusing instead on the fugitive and delicate forms of observation. Bonnard’s keen sense of observation was highlighted by Thadée Natanson, an early collector of the artist’s work: “His nearsightedness is that of an observer, but it eliminates useless details. Behind his spectacles, usually lively pupils glanced at or fix upon successive objects, to make them his own” (quoted in J.T. Soby, J. Elliott and M. Wheeler, Bonnard and his Environment, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1964, p. 17). This sense of “making them his own” was characteristic of Bonnard, who enjoyed manipulating and modifying reality to his own artistic vision, offering new pictorial interpretations of visual experience, which pushed his art to new limits. Around the time the present work was painted, Bonnard was in the midst of an introspective period in which he attempted to reconcile and balance colour with form, anxious that he had given too much precedence to colour in his formative Impressionist days. Bonnard began to work with a new emphasis on composition, constantly shifting the perspective and arrangement of everyday subjects. One of his most effective tools was the deployment of space, introducing framing and enclosing devices, which imbued a personal and familiar feel to his work. Despite these measures, however, Bonnard remained essentially a colourist, devoted to wedding sensations of colour and rejoicing in combinations of unfamiliar intermediate tones. Bonnard expressed his joy of colour: “Colour alone will suffice to express all one wants to say, there is no need for highlighting or modelling in painting. It seemed possible for me to reproduce light, shape and character by the use of colour alone, without the help of any values” (quoted in exh. cat., op. cit., 1991, n.p.). Bord de mer avec paysage displays Bonnard’s mastery of tone, seen most notably in the mountains in the background, in which he pairs sky blue and lilac hues to give a sense of half-light.
Bord de mer avec paysage expresses the luxuriant aspect of the French countryside; its rich sinuous textures and the vibrancy of southern light, while instilling a sense of permanence. Bonnard initiates a dialogue with the classical landscapes conceived by Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Camille Corot, and Paul Cézanne. But, most importantly, he sets out on a personal exploration of the different formal and pictorial possibilities offered to him by the colourful Mediterranean landscape. Bonnard did not imagine his pictures in the abstract, yet he aimed to create a strong and sumptuous texture throughout his painting, which often gave his work a decorative aesthetic. Nicolas Watkins explains: “Bonnard's solution to the problem of reconciling depth with the decorative assertion of the surface in the painting was to treat the landscape as a kind of tapestry into which the view was woven” (Bonnard, London, 1994, p. 156).
As seen in the present work, Bonnard deployed a highly individual style, which flounced conventions of colour and form, focusing instead on the fugitive and delicate forms of observation. Bonnard’s keen sense of observation was highlighted by Thadée Natanson, an early collector of the artist’s work: “His nearsightedness is that of an observer, but it eliminates useless details. Behind his spectacles, usually lively pupils glanced at or fix upon successive objects, to make them his own” (quoted in J.T. Soby, J. Elliott and M. Wheeler, Bonnard and his Environment, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1964, p. 17). This sense of “making them his own” was characteristic of Bonnard, who enjoyed manipulating and modifying reality to his own artistic vision, offering new pictorial interpretations of visual experience, which pushed his art to new limits. Around the time the present work was painted, Bonnard was in the midst of an introspective period in which he attempted to reconcile and balance colour with form, anxious that he had given too much precedence to colour in his formative Impressionist days. Bonnard began to work with a new emphasis on composition, constantly shifting the perspective and arrangement of everyday subjects. One of his most effective tools was the deployment of space, introducing framing and enclosing devices, which imbued a personal and familiar feel to his work. Despite these measures, however, Bonnard remained essentially a colourist, devoted to wedding sensations of colour and rejoicing in combinations of unfamiliar intermediate tones. Bonnard expressed his joy of colour: “Colour alone will suffice to express all one wants to say, there is no need for highlighting or modelling in painting. It seemed possible for me to reproduce light, shape and character by the use of colour alone, without the help of any values” (quoted in exh. cat., op. cit., 1991, n.p.). Bord de mer avec paysage displays Bonnard’s mastery of tone, seen most notably in the mountains in the background, in which he pairs sky blue and lilac hues to give a sense of half-light.
Bord de mer avec paysage expresses the luxuriant aspect of the French countryside; its rich sinuous textures and the vibrancy of southern light, while instilling a sense of permanence. Bonnard initiates a dialogue with the classical landscapes conceived by Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Camille Corot, and Paul Cézanne. But, most importantly, he sets out on a personal exploration of the different formal and pictorial possibilities offered to him by the colourful Mediterranean landscape. Bonnard did not imagine his pictures in the abstract, yet he aimed to create a strong and sumptuous texture throughout his painting, which often gave his work a decorative aesthetic. Nicolas Watkins explains: “Bonnard's solution to the problem of reconciling depth with the decorative assertion of the surface in the painting was to treat the landscape as a kind of tapestry into which the view was woven” (Bonnard, London, 1994, p. 156).