Bonnard Et La Poésie D'un Objet Ordinaire

Exhibition at the Musée Bonnard, Le Cannet, 29 June - 3 November 2024

Between around 1910 and the mid-1930s, the work of Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) included a vase with a rather banal decoration of cherry tree branches, leaves and fruit. Created before 1911 in the workshops of the Lebacqz & Bouchart earthenware factory in the north of France, this water jug fascinated the painter to such an extent that he produced around thirty paintings - almost exclusively still lifes, but also a nude and two interiors.

Rare objects were of little interest to the painter, who needed to live with an object for a long time in order to examine its intrinsic value. Metamorphosed by colour, the object appears different each time, sometimes unrecognisable.

This exhibition catalogue sheds a special light on this cult object for a 'Bonnardian', which inspired some thirty paintings, all of which are reproduced here.