Brilliant Colors: The Impact of Japanese Prints on Pierre Bonnard as a Colorist
Suzanne H. Westbrook, Princeton Class of 2008
“One thing is necessary in painting: heightening the tone” —Pierre Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard was above all else a colorist. He believed that color was the most important element of any painting and therefore made it central to all of his works. According to Antoine Terrasse, a prominent Bonnard scholar, Bonnard first blossomed as a colorist in 1912 when he moved away from drab, industrial Paris to spend most of his time amongst the vibrant hues of the Midi. Terrasse writes:
The discovery of the Midi marks an important moment in Bonnard’s oeuvre. The paintings of the 1910s reveal an overwhelming passion for color, which becomes the primary feature of his art. (A. Terrasse, Shimmering Color 63)
As Antoine Terrasse remarks, we can see the omnipresent light of the South manifested in all of Bonnard’s later work. In this period, he painted outdoors with increasing frequency and his palette became extremely vivid, practically parodying of the spectrum of nature. This stunning use of color is illustrated in the work Dining Room in the Country (1913), a painting composed soon after his emigration from Paris that embodies the vibrancy typical of his later works. Michel Terrasse concurs, citing the brilliant sun as incendiary to Bonnard’s color: “Under the blazing sun, with the mistral blowing, his palette caught fire without losing any of its subtlety.” (M. Terrasse, 11). Scholars like Antoine and Michel Terrasse show us the glowing green trees and flaming pink flowers of Bonnard’s Midi works, citing these brighter colors as evidence that his naissance as a colorist occurred in the South.
But is this true? While the South was clearly influential in Bonnard’s use of color, the roots of this passion are apparent far earlier, in the shocking and unusual uses of color found in his early work of the 1890s, composed before his move from Paris to the Midi. As a result, in identifying the chief influence on Bonnard’s vibrant spectrum of hues as the lush scenery of Southern France, both Terrasses fail to acknowledge the profound effect of Japanese prints, which he ‘discovered’ in the 1890s. The bright, simple colors of these prints showed Bonnard long before his move South that he could express anything using color, contrary to the implications of the conventional European reliance on structure and perspective in the expression of form. This is important because while many art historians recognize that Bonnard was deeply involved in the Japonisme movement, none make the direct connection between this Japanese influence and his definition of himself as a colorist. Specifically, Bonnard mimics the vibrant Japanese depictions of women in his own French manner, borrowing their stylistic use of color in translation (Rewald, 29). By looking at Pierre Bonnard’s early paintings of women, then, we can see that he relies increasingly heavily on color as time progresses and it gradually becomes more important than perspective to the structure of his works. Most importantly, we can see how the influence of Japanese art shaped his development as a colorist: it was only through employing the techniques of Japanese art that Bonnard was able to forge his personal style of painting and make color the dominant element of his art.
Early Influence of Japanese Art on Bonnard's Colorism
