PIERRE BONNARD

Pierre Bonnard was a founding member of a group of artists called Les Nabis (Nabi means prophet in Hebrew), a short-lived group of Post-Impressionist artists in Paris in the 1890s. Although trained as a lawyer (the wishes of his father), Bonnard really wanted to be a painter and at age 21, he began studying at the Académie Julian in Paris; many of his fellow classmates would become members of Les Nabis. Known for his use of intense color, Bonnard's earlier works such as the top painting, Girl with a Straw Hat (1903), were still being influenced by Impressionist painters such as Renoir. During his lifetime Bonnard also contributed illustrations for many books and magazines, successfully published several series of lithographs and even designed set decorations for theater and ballet productions. Bonnard constantly showed his works in major art exhibitions not just in France, but throughout the world. In 1910, he made his first trip to the south of France; after making annual trips to the area, he permanently moved there in 1925. Bonnard would paint over 300 paintings, such as the bottom painting, View from the Artist's Studio, Le Cannet (1945).

These two paintings are why many art historians believe that Pierre Bonnard is considered one of the greatest colorist painters of the modern art.

These two masterpieces are part of the collection assembled by Mrs. Harry L. Bradley during the second half of the 20th century, beginning in 1950. Over the next twenty-five years she acquired over 400 works of art. The idea of gifting the collection to the Milwaukee Art Museum came after she and her husband noticed how much families enjoyed visiting the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  They wanted the same enjoyment for their hometown museum even though other major U.S. museums tried to obtain the collection. In addition to the works of art, Mrs. Bradley gave the museum $1,000,000 to erect the Bradley Wing to house the collection. After the Bradley Wing opened in 1975 until her death in 1977, Mrs. Bradley came to the museum nearly every day to view her collection and greet museum visitors.

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This post was originally published in my blog Tutti Capolavori on July 29, 2012. 
The photos were taken by me during my visit to the Milwaukee Art Museum.