Pierre Bonnard

Art Historical Context

Odilon Redon's *Pierre Bonnard* (1900) is a striking lithograph portrait capturing the young Post-Impressionist painter Pierre Bonnard, a key figure in the Nabi group known for intimate domestic scenes and vibrant color. Redon, a master of Symbolism who often explored dreams and the fantastical in his earlier works, here shifts toward a more naturalistic style influenced by his contemporaries. This intimate depiction, rendered in black ink on delicate chine collé—thin Asian paper adhered to a sturdier support—highlights Bonnard's thoughtful gaze and soft features, evoking the artistic camaraderie of fin-de-siècle Paris. Printed at a modest sheet size of 17.7 x 16.4 cm, the work exemplifies lithography's versatility for subtle tonal gradations and expressive lines, techniques Redon refined after experimenting with charcoal and pastel. Created amid the transition from Symbolism to modernism, it reflects the cross-pollination among artists like Bonnard, whose innovative use of light and pattern Redon admired. Housed in the National Gallery of Art as part of the Virginia and Ira Jackson Collection, this print offers a window into the personal networks that shaped early 20th-century French art, reminding visitors of the era's creative bonds.

About the Artist

Odilon Redon · 1840–1916

Odilon Redon (1840-1916) was a French Symbolist painter, printmaker, and pastellist whose visionary art bridged the 19th-century Symbolist movement and 20th-century Surrealism. Born Bertrand Redon in Bordeaux on April 20, 1840, he earned the nickname "Odilon" from his mother Odile. His father, who made his fortune in the Louisiana slave trade, conceived Odilon in New Orleans before the family retu...