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Lot Essay
The present work depicts the artist's wife, Marthe, wearing a striped red blouse which seems to have been a favorite item of clothing. It appears in a number of works from the 1920s, including Femme tenant un chien (D. 1156; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; fig. 1) and Reine Natanson et Marthe Bonnard au corsage rouge (D. 1403; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris), as well as in another Bonnard in this sale, Le déjeuner (lot 21). The compositional relationship of the present work to the Phillips Collection picture is extremely close. Both works share the same format and seem to show Marthe seated on the same chair with a similarly nuanced blue background. Even the playful affinity which Bonnard establishes between the dachshund and the truncated wine bottle in the Washington picture is mirrored in the present work by formal rhyme of Marthe's posture and the broad bottomed carafe on the table in front of her.
The early 1920s saw great change in Bonnard's personal and professional life. An extra-marital affair with Renée Monchaty, begun around 1920 and the inspiration for a number of paintings of the blonde Renée, was destined to end tragically with her suicide in a Paris hotel room in 1924. The following summer, Bonnard finally married Marthe, his companion of over thirty years. On the professional front, Claude Roger-Marx claimed in 1924 that the collapse of cubism and the rapel à l'ordre in the aftermath of the First World War meant that the time of injustice was over and Bonnard was rediscovered, 'His charms had recovered their power' (Pierre Bonnard, Paris, 1924, p. 3). Bonnard's reputation spread abroad for the first time and dealers began to compete for his work. In April 1924, the Galerie Druet held a major retrospective of his work and Bernheim-Jeune gave him a one-man show in the summer.
The intimate, domestic mood of Le corsage rayé recalls Bonnard's works of the 1890s. However, the dark tonality of his early style, where earth colors dominate, has by the early 1920s given way to a palette of radiant reds, blues and whites. The modulation of colors, particularly evident in the present work in the background and white tablecloth, is another departure from earlier practice, where flat planes of color were preferred. Instead here we see effects that pressage the gloriously variegated hues of the late paintings. Moreover, the scumbled application of pigment in the present work creates a subtle texture which helps in Bonnard's aim to see 'vibration' in his paintings.
The solemn pose of Marthe in Le corsage rayé, with downturned eyes which refuse to acknowledge the viewer, is to be found elsewhere in paintings from the early 1920s such as La veillée (D. 1090; Private collection). It seems that Marthe's natural shyness--Antoine Terrasse, the artist's grand-nephew, tells of how Marthe would carry an umbrella to shield herself from attention when out in public--in all likelihood exacerbated by Bonnard's affair, inspired a further withdrawal from public life. Bonnard's stated aim 'To show what one sees when one enters a room all of a sudden' (quoted in S. Whitfield and J. Elderfield, eds., Bonnard, exh. cat. Tate Gallery, London, 1998, p. 37) may also inform the composition of Le corsage rayé, with its suggestion of a stolen glance of a private moment. In any event, the pensive mood of the present work creates a visual tension with the vibrant coloring and forceful patterning of the blouse.
(fig. 1) Pierre Bonnard, Femme tenant un chien, 1922. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. BARCODE 20627119
The early 1920s saw great change in Bonnard's personal and professional life. An extra-marital affair with Renée Monchaty, begun around 1920 and the inspiration for a number of paintings of the blonde Renée, was destined to end tragically with her suicide in a Paris hotel room in 1924. The following summer, Bonnard finally married Marthe, his companion of over thirty years. On the professional front, Claude Roger-Marx claimed in 1924 that the collapse of cubism and the rapel à l'ordre in the aftermath of the First World War meant that the time of injustice was over and Bonnard was rediscovered, 'His charms had recovered their power' (Pierre Bonnard, Paris, 1924, p. 3). Bonnard's reputation spread abroad for the first time and dealers began to compete for his work. In April 1924, the Galerie Druet held a major retrospective of his work and Bernheim-Jeune gave him a one-man show in the summer.
The intimate, domestic mood of Le corsage rayé recalls Bonnard's works of the 1890s. However, the dark tonality of his early style, where earth colors dominate, has by the early 1920s given way to a palette of radiant reds, blues and whites. The modulation of colors, particularly evident in the present work in the background and white tablecloth, is another departure from earlier practice, where flat planes of color were preferred. Instead here we see effects that pressage the gloriously variegated hues of the late paintings. Moreover, the scumbled application of pigment in the present work creates a subtle texture which helps in Bonnard's aim to see 'vibration' in his paintings.
The solemn pose of Marthe in Le corsage rayé, with downturned eyes which refuse to acknowledge the viewer, is to be found elsewhere in paintings from the early 1920s such as La veillée (D. 1090; Private collection). It seems that Marthe's natural shyness--Antoine Terrasse, the artist's grand-nephew, tells of how Marthe would carry an umbrella to shield herself from attention when out in public--in all likelihood exacerbated by Bonnard's affair, inspired a further withdrawal from public life. Bonnard's stated aim 'To show what one sees when one enters a room all of a sudden' (quoted in S. Whitfield and J. Elderfield, eds., Bonnard, exh. cat. Tate Gallery, London, 1998, p. 37) may also inform the composition of Le corsage rayé, with its suggestion of a stolen glance of a private moment. In any event, the pensive mood of the present work creates a visual tension with the vibrant coloring and forceful patterning of the blouse.
(fig. 1) Pierre Bonnard, Femme tenant un chien, 1922. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. BARCODE 20627119