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Lot Essay
In 1912 Bonnard bought a small house in the Seine valley. The house, named Ma Roulette ('My Gypsy Caravan'), was situated on the hillside above the Seine at Vernonnet near Vernon. The broad terrace of Ma Roulette, commanding a view over the river plain of the Seine, was frequently the subject for Bonnard's paintings in the 1920s. Here he also became a close friend of Claude Monet and the younger man made visits to Giverny. Bonnard took daily walks through the surrounding lush countryside, often making the short journey down to the river and to his small boat where he would entertain friends.
Flix Fnon, one of Bonnard's most loyal supporters, accompanied him on a painting trip to the South of France. Writing in the foreword of a 1939 exhibition, he offered the following insight into Bonnard's working methods: 'With four thumb-tacks he had pinned a canvas, lightly tinted with ochre, to the dinning-room wall. During the first few days he would glance from time to time, as he painted, at a sketch on a piece of paper twice the size of one's hand, on which he had made notes in oil, pencil, and ink of the dominant colours of each little section of the motif. At first I could not identify the subject. Did I have before me a landscape or a seascape? On the eighth day (until then I had no doubt failed to inspect the canvas), I was astonished to be able to recognize a landscape in which a house appeared in the distance and a young woman on a path, with a child and two dogs beside her. From that time on Bonnard no longer referred to his sketch. He would step back to judge the effect of the juxtaposed tones; occasionally he would place a dab of colour with his finger, then another next to the first. On about the fifteenth day I asked him how long he thought it would take him to finish his landscape. Bonnard replied: "I finished it this morning."' (quoted in J. Rewald, Pierre Bonnard, New York, 1948, p. 51).
The present work was purchased from Galerie Bernheim-Jeune by Henri Canonne, one of the greatest patrons of the arts between the Wars. His collection contained fine works by Monet, Czanne, Vuillard and Cross (see lots 22 and 35).
Flix Fnon, one of Bonnard's most loyal supporters, accompanied him on a painting trip to the South of France. Writing in the foreword of a 1939 exhibition, he offered the following insight into Bonnard's working methods: 'With four thumb-tacks he had pinned a canvas, lightly tinted with ochre, to the dinning-room wall. During the first few days he would glance from time to time, as he painted, at a sketch on a piece of paper twice the size of one's hand, on which he had made notes in oil, pencil, and ink of the dominant colours of each little section of the motif. At first I could not identify the subject. Did I have before me a landscape or a seascape? On the eighth day (until then I had no doubt failed to inspect the canvas), I was astonished to be able to recognize a landscape in which a house appeared in the distance and a young woman on a path, with a child and two dogs beside her. From that time on Bonnard no longer referred to his sketch. He would step back to judge the effect of the juxtaposed tones; occasionally he would place a dab of colour with his finger, then another next to the first. On about the fifteenth day I asked him how long he thought it would take him to finish his landscape. Bonnard replied: "I finished it this morning."' (quoted in J. Rewald, Pierre Bonnard, New York, 1948, p. 51).
The present work was purchased from Galerie Bernheim-Jeune by Henri Canonne, one of the greatest patrons of the arts between the Wars. His collection contained fine works by Monet, Czanne, Vuillard and Cross (see lots 22 and 35).