Bonnard was one of the founders of the Nabis (or prophets) group of Symbolist artists (along with Maurice Denis, Ker-Xavier Roussel, and Edouard Vuillard) in the 1890s. His paintings are distinguished for their ravishing colors; his prints, however, tend to be more focused on line, massing monochromatic areas with elegance, grace, and power. His work, according to The Oxford Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art, "radiates a sense of warmth and well-being." In recent years, there hads been a major resurgence of interest in Bonnard signalled by the publication of several major books and the mounting of several important retrospectives.

Selected bibliography: Jean Bouret, Bonnard: The Magic Ring (NY: French & European Publications, 1967), Francis Bouvet, Bonnard: The Complete Graphic Work (NY: Rizzoli, 1981), Raytmond Cogniat, Bonnard (NY: Crown. n.d.), Willem De Looper, Pierre Bonnard (Washington, D.C.: The Philllips Collection, 1979), Timothy Hyman, Bonnard (NY: Thames & Hudson, 1998), Colta Feller Ives et al, Pierre Bonnard: The Graphic Art (NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989), Albert Kostenevitch, Bonnard and the Nabis (Bournemouth: Parkstone Publishers, 1996), Sargy Mann, Drawings by Bonnard (London: The Arts Council of Great Britain, 1984), Michel Terrasse, Bonnard at Le Gannet (NY: Pantheon Books, 1988), Verve Vol. 5, n. 17-18 (1947), Couleur de Bonnard (Paris: Editions de la Revue Verve, 1947), Sarah Whitfield, and John Elderfield, Bonnard (NY: Abrams, 1998).

Pierre Bonnard, Landscape with rocks (B. 76a), Original lithograph, 1902. One of 50 impressions on china paper without text published as a variant image after the publication of Vollard's deluxe edition of Daphnis & Chloe. In The Connosseur (July, 1973, p. 225), Colin Franklin talks about this set of variants: "One valid point is that the suites on varied paper and in different inks can be singularly beautiful—as for instance the rare suite in blue, upon thin china paper, of Bonnard's illustrations to Dapnhis & Chloe, 1903." Image size: 150x198mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Pierre Bonnard, The Capture (B. 76c), Original color lithograph, 1902. One of 50 impressions on china paper without text published as a variant image after the publication of the deluxe edition of Vollard's Daphnis & Chloe.In The Connosseur (July, 1973, p. 225), Colin Franklin talks about this set of variants: "One valid point is that the suites on varied paper and in different inks can be singularly beautiful—as for instance the rare suite in blue, upon thin china paper, of Bonnard's illustrations to Dapnhis & Chloe, 1903." . Ours is printed in blue. Extremely rare! Image size: 152x138mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Pierre Bonnard, Male figure (B. 76d), Original lithograph, 1902. One of 50 impressions on china paper without text published as a variant image after the publication of Vollard's deluxe edition Daphnis & Chloe. In The Connosseur (July, 1973, p. 225), Colin Franklin talks about this set of variants: "One valid point is that the suites on varied paper and in different inks can be singularly beautiful—as for instance the rare suite in blue, upon thin china paper, of Bonnard's illustrations to Dapnhis & Chloe, 1903." Image size: 154x140mm. Price: SOLD.

Pierre Bonnard, In the Poplars (Bouvet 76e), Original lithograph, 1902. One of 50 impressions on china paper without text published as a variant image after the publication of Vollard's deluxe edition of Daphnis & Chloe. In The Connosseur (July, 1973, p. 225), Colin Franklin talks about this set of variants: "One valid point is that the suites on varied paper and in different inks can be singularly beautiful—as for instance the rare suite in blue, upon thin china paper, of Bonnard's illustrations to Dapnhis & Chloe, 1903."Image size: 135x138mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Pierre Bonnard, Bather: Homage to Cezanne (B. 82), Original lithograph, 1914. One of 100 impressions on japon paper (of a total of 600 impressions). This is Bonnard's tribute to Cezanne; it is based upon one of Cezanne's paintings. In 2008, we provided a photograph of this print for a large important catalogue published by the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Cezanne's influence. Image size: 148x80mm. Price: SOLD.

Pierre Bonnard, Cat and Bird (B. 90., p. 226), Original etching, 1924. One of 350 impressions for Dingo. There were also 50 suites of etchings sold separately from the deluxe book. Dingo tells the story of the adventures of a dog (the title character). This etching deisplays a cat doing what cats what housecats (like ours) spend their days dreaming about as they stare out the window at nature outside and think of playing with it and then eating it. This may explain why cats and peple get along so well. Ours is a very fine impression of this innocently blood-thirsty print. Image size: 281x216mm. Price: SOLD.

Pierre Bonnard, Le bonne graveur / the old engraver (M. 114), Original etching, c. 1930. Edition unknown. Bouvet does not include this print in her catalogue raisonné of Bonnard's prints, but it was included in older literature. Recently, I have seen an attribution to Bonnard's brother-in-law, Vuillard. Image size: 196x120mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Pierre Bonnard, La Vie de Sainte Monique: Chilldren Playing (B. page 258), Original transfer lithograph, 1930. One of 50 impressions initialed in the stone on hand-made Arches cream-color wove paper (of a total edition of 344 impressions). This history of life in North Africa in the early 4th century was published by Ambroise Vollard in 1930. It concerns the story of St. Monica (332-387) in Tagaste and her famous son, St. Augustine. After her conversion to Christianity, Monica was married to a pagan who was not sympathetic to Christians or Christianity. By her patience, she converted him a year before his death. She then turned her prayers to the spiritual welfare of her son. Image size: 335x254mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Pierre Bonnard, La Vie de Sainte Monique: The Bishop counseling St. Monica (B. page 259), Original transfer lithograph, 1930. One of 50 impressions initialed in the stone on hand-made Arches wove paper (of a total edition of 344 impressions). Augustine was sent to Carthage, so that he might develop his talents and become a man of culture. He took to learning naturally but he also spent time in youthful carousing. This caused his mother great anguish, and when he returned to Tagaste, she disapproved so strongly both of his loose living and of his espousal of the popular heresy of Manichaeism that she refused at first to allow him to live at home. One day as she was weeping over his behavior, a figure appeared and asked her the cause of her grief. She answered, and a voice issued from the mysterious figure, telling her to dry her tears; then she heard the words, "Your son is with you." She implored the local bishop for help in winning him over, and he counseled her to be patient, saying, "God's time will come." Monica persisted in importuning him, and the bishop uttered the words which have often been quoted: "Go now, I beg you; it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish." Image size: 335x254mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Pierre Bonnard, Le parc Monceau (B. 114), Original etching, 1937. 500 impressions for Paris 1937 plus proofs with large margins, of which this is one. Bouvet helpfully tells us that Bonnard's etching illustrates a text by Marcel Bedel, "Faubourg Saint-Honoré"; it well conveys the view of the parc Monceau expressed in the following quotation: "the parc Monceau demands that we should abandon ourselves to the sweet things of life." Even today, the park is a little oasis in the middle of the bustling city where it is possible to escape for as long as one desires the noise and haste of the city. Image size: 336x260mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Pierre Bonnard, Sunset over the Mediterranean, Original color lithograph, 1940. Published in a special issue of the deluxe art review Verve immediately after the Nazis overran France in 1940. In a special preface to the English edition (but not the French), Julien Cain of the Bibliotheque Nationale explained that the authors "were not simply acting on a whim" in assembling a group of works that showed the "continuity of French art" especailly "at this disturbing period of its history" to demonstrate "the living tradition of its painting." France may have been defeated in war, but the issue proclaims that the spirit of French art and life is eternal. Bonnard's lithograph was commissioned especially for this issue and does not seem to have ever been reprinted. With the usual centerfold. Image size: 300x498mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Pierre Bonnard, Sunset over the Mediterranean. Original color lithograph, 1947. Published in a special issue of the deluxe art review Verve dedicated to the Color of Bonnard published in 1947 after the liberation of France. Signed in the stone and printed at Mourlot Freres in Paris under Bonnard's supervision. Image size: 344x261mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Pierre Bonnard, Femme pour Verve / Woman for Verve. Original color lithograph, 1947. Published in a special issue of the deluxe art review Verve dedicated to The Color of Bonnard published in 1947. Printed at Mourlot Freres in Paris under Bonnard's supervision, this served as the rear cover of this issue of Verve. Image size: 344x261mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Spaightwood Galleries, Inc.

To purchase, call us at 1-800-809-3343 (1-508-529-2511 in Upton MA & vicinity) or send an email to spaightwood@gmail.com.
We accept AmericanExpress, DiscoverCard, MasterCard, and Visa.
We also accept wire transfers and paypal.

For directions and visiting information, please call. We are, of course, always available over the web and by telephone (see above for contact information). Click the following for links to past shows and artists. For a visual tour of the gallery, please click here. For information about Andy Weiner and Sonja Hansard-Weiner, please click here. For a list of special offers currently available, see Specials.

All works are sold with an unconditional guarantee of authenticity (as described in our website listing).

Copyright 2004-2017, Spaightwood Galleries, Inc.

Go back to the top of this page.

Visiting hours: Saturday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and Sunday noon to 6:00 pm and other times by arrangement.
Please call to confirm your visit. Browsers and guests are welcome.