Bonnard - Softcover

Whitfield, Sarah; Elderfield, J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1854372394 ISBN 13: 9781854372390

Publisher: Tate Gallery Publishing Ltd, 1998

Synopsis

This volume accompanied a major international retrospective of Pierre Bonnard at London's Tate Gallery and the New York Museum of Modern Art, featuring loans from numerous public and private collections. The book includes new research by Sarah Whitfield.

About this title

Review:

It seems somehow revolutionary that a turquoise-blue painting graces the cover of Bonnard, the catalog accompanying a 1998 exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The color of the endpapers--deep yellow--tells readers that even the book designers know with which end of the color spectrum most viewers associate this sensuous painter. The translucent-looking, sun-struck, golden woman in the bathtub--the artist's wife and favorite model--is so emblazoned on our memories that it takes an exhibition like the one documented in this book to remind viewers of Bonnard's extraordinary range as a colorist.

The early, intimate, Nabi paintings are often dark, with figures that stand out like candle flames in shadowy interiors. But Bonnard's use of umber, sienna, and various blacks--occasionally in the shape of a dachshund--is forever part of what makes those brilliant reds and oranges sing. Even 60 years into his career, the painter gave full range to his palette, balancing the most highly colored canvasses with others of pale, soft grays. Those readers who have been succored on the 1984 Phillips Collection catalogue will find MoMA's new one every bit as nourishing.

About the Author:

Yves-Alain Bois is Professor of Art History at Harvard University and has written extensively on modern art. Georges Roque is a philosopher and art historian who has written widely on 20th-century art. His book La strategie de Bonnard : Couleur, lumiere, regard will be published by Gallimard in 2006. Sarah Whitfield curated the Tate Gallery's 1998 Bonnard retrospective and was the co-author, with John Elderfield, of the accompanying catalogue. She has curated numerous exhibitions of 20th-century artists.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tate Gallery Publishing Ltd
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1854372394
• ISBN 13: 9781854372390
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272