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Lot Essay
Bonnard was fascinated by the daily street life of Paris and from 1893 to 1903 frequently returned to this theme: "Bonnard set out to capture in his work what no other painter of his time had observed: the little incidents of Parisian life...Bonnard descended into the streets and the squares, watching with equal interest people, horses, dogs and trees... broad avenues, busy street vendors, cafés on sidewalks offered him their intricate patterns, their noisy agitation" (John Rewald, Pierre Bonnard, New York, 1948, pp. 25-26).
Although he spent less time in Paris after 1900, Bonnard continued to paint metropolitan life, and his images of the capital recall numerous Impressionist precedents. The cityscapes of Camille Pissarro and Gustave Caillebotte clearly influenced the artist. He followed their example immortalizing the well known streets of Paris.
In the present picture, the simplification of the subject matter and the emphasis on harmonious color pattern indicate that Bonnard wished to capture the flavor of contemporary city life rather than its detail. The artist successfully conveys images and impressions through the animated brushwork and the richly varied palette.
It was André Mellerio who noted that in such works Bonnard knew how to capture "without making the scene lose its velvety quality, the delicate kaleidoscope and always unexpected vision of a complicated civilization engaged in ceaseless movement where everything has its note of color and profits from it." Gustave Geffory also pointed out, "no-one is quicker than Bonnard to seize the look of our Parisian streets, the silhouettes of a passer-by and the patch of colour which stands out in the metropolitan mist. His pencil is never still, quick and supple as a monkey, it seizes on all the momentary phenomena of the street, even the most fugitive glances are caught and set down" (quoted in Pierre Bonnard, exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1996, p. 16).
Although he spent less time in Paris after 1900, Bonnard continued to paint metropolitan life, and his images of the capital recall numerous Impressionist precedents. The cityscapes of Camille Pissarro and Gustave Caillebotte clearly influenced the artist. He followed their example immortalizing the well known streets of Paris.
In the present picture, the simplification of the subject matter and the emphasis on harmonious color pattern indicate that Bonnard wished to capture the flavor of contemporary city life rather than its detail. The artist successfully conveys images and impressions through the animated brushwork and the richly varied palette.
It was André Mellerio who noted that in such works Bonnard knew how to capture "without making the scene lose its velvety quality, the delicate kaleidoscope and always unexpected vision of a complicated civilization engaged in ceaseless movement where everything has its note of color and profits from it." Gustave Geffory also pointed out, "no-one is quicker than Bonnard to seize the look of our Parisian streets, the silhouettes of a passer-by and the patch of colour which stands out in the metropolitan mist. His pencil is never still, quick and supple as a monkey, it seizes on all the momentary phenomena of the street, even the most fugitive glances are caught and set down" (quoted in Pierre Bonnard, exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1996, p. 16).