"Rue vue d'en haut"

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(1899)

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"Rue vue d'en haut", 1899, color lithograph printed in four colors on cream wove paper, 370x220mm; 14 1/2" x 8 5/8", full margins.  Edition size 100.  Signed in pencil, lower right.  Printed by Clot, Paris. Published by Vollard, Paris. From Quelques aspects de la vie de Paris. A very good impression with strong colors [Bouvet 62].

Born in Fontenay-aux-Roses, near Paris, Pierre Bonnard entered the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris after preparatory training for the study of law.  Pierre Bonnard, and his friend Edouard Vuillard, belonged to a group of artists who called themselves Nabis; a word for prophet.  The Nabis rejected the naturalism and spontaneity of Impressionism in favor of two-dimensional designs that were ideally suited for color lithography. Bonnard's participation in the Salon des Independants and the first group show of the Nabis at the Galerie Le Barc de Boutteville, both in 1891, met with favorable critical response. Between 1891 and 1894 Bonnard developed a friendship with Toulouse-Lautrec, and the influence of that post-Impressionist may be seen in his prints.  But Impressionism continued to be evident into the 20th century when he gave his first one-man show at Durand-Ruel's and in his Salon des Independents and Salon d'Automne in 1901 and 1903.

Bonnard's admiration of the Impressionists in general and of Renoir and Degas in particular, his earlier assimilation of the shape-conscious composition of Gauguin, Serusier and Denis, and his interchange of influences of color harmonies and dissonance's with the Fauves all conjoined to resolve in Bonnard a peculiarly enduring and beauty-conscious attitude. Bonnard's life was as serene and uneventful as those of Gauguin and Van Gogh were tempestuous; his exuberance was reserved for his art.  Even in this he was distinquised rather than blatant, learning from every new experiment around him yet adapting all he learnt to the refinement of his personal style.

It is sometimes said that the basic assumption of modern art is that the first concern of a work of art is to present a configuration of shapes and colors and marks which in itself stimulates and satisfies, and that only after this condition has been fulfilled can the subtlety of observation, the depth of human feeling and insight, the moral grandeur, expressed in the work, have validity.  Whether creating a still life, people or landscape, Pierre Bonnard created what was near to him - his surroundings and his intimates.   He created whatever belonged to his personal life and he created it in the manner he saw it in the ordinary course of events.

This Bonnard is in a 32 1/2" x 26 5/8" ornate silver frame with a scoop, acanthus leaf pattern on the cove and an egg and dart pattern on the lip.  The matching silver wash over dark gray wood fillet echoes the frame.  The outer sawdust denim, middle olive denim and grain colored inner rag mats are acid and lignin free and protected with Acrylite-AR OP3 (UV) by CYRO ....... $5,000.00