Pierre Bonnard: Biography and Creativity

Pierre Bonnard - painter, engraver and one of the greatcolorists of French origin. His work had an invaluable influence and contributed to the contemporary fine arts and culture in general. Although his activities in the chronological framework no longer enter into the golden age of French painting, he is undoubtedly a part of it.

Pierre Bonnard: Biography

The future painter and artist was born on 03.10.1867 in Le Cannet, a resort town on the French Riviera.

His father was an official, so about noart could not go on and on. He wanted his son to get a law degree, which he studied at the Sorbonne University. But the young man managed to defend his point of view, so Pierre Bonnard enrolled in the private art academy of Julian.

Continued to receive art education inParis School of Fine Arts. It was here that the association of artists "Nabi" was formed, which was headed by Bonnard. In addition to him, there were Paul Seryuzieu Ker-Xavier Russell and Ambroise Vollard, with whom they became very friends.

Pierre Bonnard even captured him in several of his paintings. Exhibiting his works at the Salon of Independent Artists in Paris, he met Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.

He traveled a lot, having traveled almost allEurope and North Africa. Since 1925 he finally settled on the Cote d'Azur in his hometown. He bought a cozy house near the sea, where he continued to actively create.

He had to survive the Nazi occupation, after liberation from which he arranged an exhibition of his old works in retrospect.

Pierre Bonnard: works

Among the most famous works of the painter you canhighlight: "White Cat" (1894), "Cherry Pie" (1908), "In the Rays of the Sun" (1908) and many others. He has a whole series of paintings, where the cats and cats are imprinted. They are frequent heroes on his canvases.

However, one of his most famous paintings,of course, is the above-mentioned work "In the rays of the sun." Hood. Pierre Bonnard painted on this canvas a young naked girl, who is standing in her bedroom near the bed. The warm rays of the morning sun warm her body. The artist often created images of naked women in full or in negligee. He was a great connoisseur of female beauty, so he sought to capture it on his canvases.

Another famous work of Pierre Bonnard -"Morning in Paris", where the capital street is depicted. Fussy people are somewhere in a hurry, the figures of most of them are half-washed. This artist wanted to say that in a big city all people merge, lose their individuality.

In his creative coin there is a huge number of works, but within the framework of this article there is no need to consider them all.

Art style

This french artist who worked onthe turn of the XIX and XX centuries, entered the history of art as one of the most prominent colorists. He was always an opponent of impressionism, because he believed that their style of composition was strongly flawed, and the color range was far from reality.

Pierre Bonnard, whose paintings are full of differentshades, distinguished by the fact that he always strove for unsharp, even muted colors. It is believed that he was among the first artists who managed to reveal and understand the inner world of a woman and her intimate side of life.

He loved to paint landscapes of Paris and the Mediterranean coast of France. By the end of his creative activity, he began to use more saturated colors and create complex compositions.

Personal life of the artist

Being at the age of 26, Bonnard, as a boy,fell in love with Martha de Meligny, who was selling flowers. His feelings for her were unrestrained, passionate, but this does not mean that he did not change her.

Martha was his constant model, which heimitated almost 4 hundred of my canvases. 32 years after their acquaintance, they finally became spouses. It was then that he recognized her real name, which he had not previously known. It turned out that the woman's name is Marie Boursen. However, this story is not so smooth and well.

Pierre Bonnard (artist) regularly wound upfleeting connections on the side, and in 1918 he had a permanent model, who was his mistress. Her name was Rene Monshati. She was so deeply in love with Pierre that after learning of his marriage to Martha, she committed suicide.

Monshati was a model for many of his paintings, in particular, for the painting "Nude in the Bathroom."

"Nabi"

As mentioned above, Pierre Bonnard was one ofleaders of the group of artists, which was called "Nabi". At the same time, he always emphasized the fact that he does not belong to any direction and flow. He constantly sought to show his individuality, to find his unique style.

Already since the mid 90s. XIX century, he increasingly begins to move away from their principles. The tendency to linearity and ornamental nabids no longer interests him. Since then, he creates exclusively in "his" style, not identifying himself to any of the famous schools of painting.

Travels

Bonnard traveled a lot, visiting different cities andcountry. The biographers and contemporaries of the artist point out that even though he did not have a shortage of money, the painter never sought to waste. He was very restrained in spending and unpretentious in everyday life. The most important thing for him was that there was enough space for the easel, there were always paints and brushes.

On his wanderings he is often accompanied.fellow painters. During his life he traveled almost all of Western Europe and North Africa. Among the countries he visited are the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, as well as Spain and Italy. From African states he visited Algeria and Tunisia, which at that time were French colonies.

In 1926, Pierre Bonnard became a member of the jury of a major Carnegie art award, which was held in the United States. After exactly ten years, he himself won this prize.

Contribution to art

Bonnard's works are beauty and grace.female body, softness and tenderness of colors, saturation. He received recognition and respect during his lifetime, which was not possible for every artist. But P. Bonnard himself didn’t worry too much about selling the paintings, because he was always cold to money.

His paintings had a great influence on modern painting and culture in general. He created countless paintings, most of which are considered to be the property of France and the whole world.

Today, the world's largest museums and art lovers are proud if their collection contains at least one work by Bonnard. No wonder he is considered a true genius of painting.

Success and recognition

The artist himself spoke about his financialsuccess: "All these zeros annoy me." And indeed it is. He never showed interest in money, did not chase after them, and lived rather modestly, even with a huge amount of money.

His paintings are highly valued. Many of them are sold for big money at art auctions. During his lifetime, he was already selling his works for good money, which for his contemporary artists was the ultimate dream.

Today, his work continues to enjoy considerable demand. He had followers, and connoisseurs and admirers of his work still praise the artist and his works.

However, success cannot be measured only by the numberof money. Here, the important role played by the recognition of people, especially their fellow craftsmen. However, with this he, too, never had any problems. While still young, he already began to be respected in the eyes of even older and experienced painters. Over the years, his credibility only increased.

Conclusion

Pierre Bonnard is definitely one ofoutstanding and prominent artists of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. Each of his works is brilliant in his own way. They convey not only the artist's perception of the world, but also his attitude to a particular action, person or something.

His contribution to painting is huge, he actually becamethe last painter of the golden age in France. He is a younger contemporary of such great painters as Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, P. Gauguin, as well as many impressionists and post-impressionists.

He, if I may say so, closed this era inhistory of french art. After him, art not only in his homeland, but throughout the world, began to change dramatically. A lot of new trends and schools appeared, among them Picasso, S. Dali, and later E. Warhol, Pollock, etc. It is impossible to say that he had a great influence on the work of each artist individually, but he had a considerable number of followers and many painters today often turn to his motives and techniques, creating their works.