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Lot Essay
By 1905 Bonnard was recognized as one of the most successful painters of his generation, establishing his reputation on the popularity of his interiors and his great ability to distil the essence of quotidian life into evocative scenes of great beauty. In the present work Bonnard depicts the corner of a simply furnished room, in the centre of which stands a chair covered in discarded clothes. In the mirror we can see a seated figure, possibly Marthe de Meligny, whom Bonnard met in 1893 and finally married in 1925, whose reflection lends the composition depth and complexity. 'Bonnard, like his friend Vuillard, found congenial subjects in his domestic surroundings; he became a painter of intimité, able to invest the ordinary stuff of daily life with fresh magic. His talent [is] for delighting in themes that surround us, but which do not always appear pleasurable' (D. Sutton, exh. cat. Pierre Bonnard, London, 1966, p. 15).
Femme à la toilette is typical of Bonnard's post-Nabis portraits and interiors from the early 1900s. There are touches of intimisme in his approach but in terms of its technique - the short brushstrokes, the light tonal values, the subtle colour combinations - it is possible to see Bonnard's gradual rapprochement with Impressionism and, in his compositions, with the works of Degas. As Steven Nash points out, 'the use of a close-in and frequently raised perspective, the cropped and oddly angled views, and the concentration on habitual, non-academic, unselfconscious gesture link the two artists in their search for an intimacy and freshness of presentation' (Bonnard, exh. cat., Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection, 1984, p. 20).
Bonnard's painting was less concerned with depicting a narrative than with intimating a mood. Unlike the Impressionists who strove for immediacy in their work, Bonnard's paintings were not painted in situ but were constructed from memory in his studio, often with the aid of photographs. The subjects of his paintings can be understood as meditations on the people, places and things that surrounded him. The meditative atmosphere of the present work is enhanced by the artist's cool, subtle palette of whites, ochres, browns and blacks, sharply contrasted with the occasional bolt of colour in the clothes on the chair.
Femme à la toilette is typical of Bonnard's post-Nabis portraits and interiors from the early 1900s. There are touches of intimisme in his approach but in terms of its technique - the short brushstrokes, the light tonal values, the subtle colour combinations - it is possible to see Bonnard's gradual rapprochement with Impressionism and, in his compositions, with the works of Degas. As Steven Nash points out, 'the use of a close-in and frequently raised perspective, the cropped and oddly angled views, and the concentration on habitual, non-academic, unselfconscious gesture link the two artists in their search for an intimacy and freshness of presentation' (Bonnard, exh. cat., Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection, 1984, p. 20).
Bonnard's painting was less concerned with depicting a narrative than with intimating a mood. Unlike the Impressionists who strove for immediacy in their work, Bonnard's paintings were not painted in situ but were constructed from memory in his studio, often with the aid of photographs. The subjects of his paintings can be understood as meditations on the people, places and things that surrounded him. The meditative atmosphere of the present work is enhanced by the artist's cool, subtle palette of whites, ochres, browns and blacks, sharply contrasted with the occasional bolt of colour in the clothes on the chair.