My tutor suggested I attend the exhibition which was very interesting, not least because on entering each room had a different colour on the walls and an earthy sort of colour on the floor, which complemented the explosion of colour of the paintings on the walls. Though I liked Bonnard’s use of colour I didn’t care for his style and composition - not my taste, fussy daily scenes which gave me a feeling of photographs out of focus, and I found the figures rather cartoonish
The bath 1925, Oil on canvas 86 x 120.6
I had very mixed feelings when I looked at some of the works, for example Bonnard’s “The bowl of Milk
The perspective in this work looks very odd, reminding me of Cézanne’s “Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses” where the table is also tilted towards the viewer, though without the impact Cezanne achieved. The figure on the right of the painting is however beautifully and sensitively painted evoking calm.
Then I realised that Bonnard was painting from memory places and scenes that he had seen, and I understood his paintings a little more. I started to admire the amount of detail in his paintings, mostly scenes with a view through a door, window or mirror, and particularly the intensity of his colours and how he unified his compositions by incorporating the same colours in different parts of his paintings, one example being the Balcony at Vernonnet 1920, Oil on Canvas 100.5 x 79
In this painting he incorporated the pink of the flowers in the centre into the rag on the left-hand side, and also the blue of the rails into the clothing of the figure at the bottom. The vibrancy of his colourful palette gives the impression of a happy painting but for me his way of applying the paint gave me a feeling of sadness.
I’m very glad I went to see this exhibition as I’m struggling with the use of colour in my work, and although I didn’t like his style I think I should try copying Bonnard’s work as an exercise to see if I can apply his technique to improve this aspect of my practice.
Reference
Edited by Gale Matthew, 2019, The CC Land Exhibition-Pierre Bonnard : The Colour Memory -Tate,