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    Sale 5535

    Art Impressionniste et Moderne

    Paris

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    2 December 2008

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    • PIERRE BONNARD (1867-1947)
    Lot 9

    PIERRE BONNARD (1867-1947)

    Corbeille de fruits

    Price realised

    EUR 142,600

    Estimate

    EUR 120,000 - EUR 180,000

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    PIERRE BONNARD (1867-1947)
    Corbeille de fruits
    signé 'Bonnard' (en haut à droite)
    gouache et traces de mine de plomb sur papier
    38 x 52.7 cm. (15 x 20¾ in.)
    Exécuté en 1932

    Provenance

    Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquis auprès de l'artiste, 15 février 1932).
    Collection particulière, Paris (acquis auprès de celle-ci, 22 février 1932).
    Puis par descendance au propriétaire actuel.

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    Lot Essay

    Cette oeuvre est incluse dans les archives de la Galerie Bernheim-Jeune comme une oeuvre authentique de Pierre Bonnard.

    Le coin d'une table recouverte d'une nappe à carreaux, et, comme s'il venait d'y être posé, un panier de fruits: ainsi apparaît Corbeille de fruits, composition où l'angle de vue, défini par les lignes de la table et du sol, place le sujet, de manière inattendue, au centre du tableau. Cette vision, qui rompt avec les lois de la représentation de la perspective, tient compte de ce que le peintre appelle la "vision mobile": "L'oeil du peintre donne aux objets une valeur humaine et reproduit les choses tel que les voit un oeil humain. Et cette vision est mobile, et cette vision est variable..." (B. Lorquin, Pierre Bonnard, un parcours, catalogue d'exposition, Paris, Fondation Dina Vierny-Musée Maillol, 2000, p. 15). En désarticulant l'espace, en faisant se chevaucher les plans, en juxtaposant les touches de couleurs, Bonnard écrase la perspective, dont il estompe ainsi la profondeur. Enfin, même s'il peint ce tableau alors que le mouvement nabi s'est dispersé depuis longtemps, il en perpétue l'esprit dans cette sorte de logique décorative qui fait apparaître le tableau comme un motif.

    Le premier plan quadrillé de la table est incliné vers le spectateur, offrant ainsi aux regards la rondeur de ce panier rempli de fruits. Leur aspect semble velouté par la gouache, technique que le peintre revendiquait au même titre que l'huile. En effet, "Bonnard découvre d'emblée que [la gouache] lui procure une peinture presque aussi solide que ses travaux à l'huile. Il peut consacrer à cette partie intime de son oeuvre la même énergie qu'à ses grandes "machines." "Les gouaches de Bonnard," écrit Guy Amoureux, "sont à sa peinture ce que la pluie est à la nature. Hausser le ton [...] devient d'autant plus essentiel que celui-ci lui est donné dans sa pleine présence, le temps que sèche l'eau. On comprend l'évidence avec laquelle ce moyen d'expression, qui ne le quittera plus, s'impose à lui" (J.-L. Prat Bonnard, catalogue d'exposition, Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 1999, p. 172).

    The corner of a table covered with a chequered cloth, and, as if it has just been placed there, a basket overflowing with fruit. A composition in which the viewpoint, defined by the lines of the table and the floor, places the subject unexpectedly at the centre of the painting - this is how Corbeille de fruits is presented to the spectator. This vision, which breaks with the laws of representation and perspective, takes into account what the painter calls "mobile vision." "The eye of the painter gives objects a human value and reproduces things as the human eye sees them. And this vision is mobile, and this vision is variable..." (B. Lorquin, Pierre Bonnard, un parcours, exhibition catalogue, Paris, Fondation Dina Vierny -Musée Maillol, 2000, p. 15).

    By disjointing space, overlapping distances and juxtaposing brushstrokes of colour, Bonnard does away with traditional perspective, completely flattening the picture plane. Although he produced this painting when the Nabi movement had long since broken up, he perpetuates its spirit in the sort of decorative approach which transform all the still-life elements into decorative patterning.

    The squared foreground of the table slopes towards the spectator, displaying the roundness of the basket full of fruit. Their appearance is highlighted by gouache, a technique the painter used as much as oil. For "Bonnard immediately discovered that [gouache] provided him with a painting just as solid as his works in oil. He was able to devote the same energy to this private part of his work as to his great "machines." Bonnard's gouaches," writes Guy Amoureux, "are to his painting what rain is to nature. Raising the tone [...] became even more crucial since it was provided in its full presence, while the water was drying. We can understand how natural it was that this means of expression, which he would never abandon, should become a necessity to him" (J.-L. Prat,
    Bonnard, exhibition catalogue, Martigny, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 1999, p. 72).

    Other information

    Special Notice

    No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT payable at 19.6% (5.5% for books) will be added to the buyer’s premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis


    Pre-Lot Text

    COLLECTION PARTICULIERE PARISIENNE

    Post Lot Text

    'BASKET WITH FRUIT'; SIGNED UPPER RIGHT; GOUACHE AND TRACES OF PENCIL ON PAPER.


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