Bonnard drew on the Japanese printmakers, especially Hiroshige, to convey the essence of Paris not through its monuments or vistas, but with scenes of bustling daily life observed from idiosyncratic angles. But unlike the Japanese artists, he worked with a painterly sense of texture and colour that remains as astonishing today as when it was first published. This is one of the three hugely original portfolios of etchings brought out in 1899 by the great dealer Ambroise Vollard, and printed by the master craftsman Auguste Clot. The other two are by Édouard Vuillard and Maurice Denis, and all three are being published simultaneously by Pallas Athene.
frontispice/frontispiece
Couverture Cover
1.
Avenue du Bois de Boulogne Avenue du Bois de Boulogne
2.
Coin de rue Street Corner
3.
Maisons dans la cour Houses in the Courtyard
4.
Rue vue den haut Street seen from above
5.
Boulevard Boulevard
6.
Place le soir The Square at Evening
7.
Le Marchand de quatre saisons The Costermonger
8.
Le Pont Bridge
9.
Au théâtre At the Theatre
10.
Rue, le soir sous la pluie Street at Evening in the Rain
11.
Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe
12.
Coin de rue vue den haut Street Scene seen from above
Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) shot to fame in Paris with a poster advertising champagne. His interest in printmaking lasted for the rest of his life, but the mastery of luminous colour in his paintings was perhaps unequalled in the 20th century. Bonnard was a leading figure in the transition from Impressionism to Modernism. He painted landscapes, urban scenes, portraits and intimate domestic scenes, where the backgrounds, colours and painting style usually took precedence over the subject.
