Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947)

Piazza del Popolo, Rome

Details

Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947)
Piazza del Popolo, Rome
signed 'Bonnard' (lower left)
oil on canvas
31 x 38 in. (79.5 x 96.5 cm.)
Painted in 1922

Provenance

Princesse de Bassia, Paris
De Hauke & Co., Inc., New York
Mrs. Marjorie Phillips, Washington, D.C. (acquired from the above in 1929)
Anon. sale, Sotheby's, New York, 15 November 1989, lot 62
Acquired from the above sale by the previous owner

Literature

D. Phillips, The Artist Sees Differently, New York, 1931, vol. 2, pl. XCII (illustrated).
D. Phillips, The Phillips Collection: A Museum of Modern Art and its Sources, Washington, D.C., 1952, p. 9.
"Painter of the Rainbows," Time, 27 April 1959, pp. 68-69 (illustrated).
A. Terrasse, Bonnard, Geneva, 1964, p. 65 (illustrated in color).
A. Vaillant, Bonnard ou le Bonheur de Voir, Neuchtel, 1965, p. 130 (illustrated, p. 201).
J. and H. Dauberville, Bonnard, catalogue raisonn de l'oeuvre peint, Paris, 1973, vol. III (1920-1939), p. 110, no. 108 (illustrated).
I. Fortunescu, Bonnard, Bucharest, 1980, pl. 34 (illustrated).
A. Terrasse, Bonnard, Paris, 1988, p. 312 (illustrated in color, p. 144).

Exhibited

Paris, Socit des Amis du Luxembourg, Premire Exposition, March-April 1924, no. 10.
Washington, D.C., Phillips Memorial Gallery, Modern Art and its Sources, March-June 1930.
Washington, D.C., Phillips Memorial Gallery, Pierre Bonnard, October 1930-January 1931, no. 92.
Washington, D.C., Phillips Memorial Gallery, Paintings by Bonnard: The Collection's Unit of Seventeen Paintings, March-June 1945.
Washington, D.C., The Phillips Gallery, Paintings in the Collection by Bonnard, February-March 1952.
Washington, D.C., The Phillips Gallery, Paintings by Bonnard and Some Abstraction from the Collection, March-June 1959.
Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection, Paintings and Drawings by Pierre Bonnard: An Exhibition from the Phillips Collection and the Collection of Mrs. Duncan Phillips and Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin Phillips, January-February 1967 (illustrated).
Rome, Accademia di Francia, Villa Medici, Bonnard (1867-1947), November 1971-January 1972, no. 10 (illustrated in color on the cover and p. 47).
Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Fondation Maeght, Bonnard dans sa lumire, July-September 1975, no. 32 (illustrated, p. 63).
Paris, Muse National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou (no. 18); Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection, and Dallas, Museum of Art, Bonnard, The Late Paintings, February-November 1984, p. 150, no. 22 (illustrated in color).

Lot Essay

Bonnard visited Rome in March 1921, spending two weeks there. The present painting appears to be the only work he made as a riccordo of his stay. However, it is possible that Bonnard did not paint the picture in Rome, but rather in France following his return. This possiblity arises since Dauberville in the catalogue raisonn of Bonnard's paintings assigns the picture the date of 1922. In any event, given the specificity of view and detail, there can be no doubt the picture is based on close observation of the piazza. Indeed, the vantage point is set in the passageway next to the Porta del Popolo. At the left edge, one sees the corner of the great Renaissance church, S. Maria del Popolo; in the background are the twin structures of S. Maria dei Miracoli and S. Maria di Montesanto, flanking the via del Corso; and at the center is the monumental Egyptian obelisk (on a Baroque base) that forms the focal point of the square. Clearly revelling in the composition and the opportunities to display his daring colorist technique, Bonnard was captivated by the beauty and charm of this elegant piazza.