In 2024, Caumont - Centre d'Art dedicates an exhibition (April 30 - October 6, 2024) to the genius of Pierre Bonnard and the influence of Japanese art on his work. This first exhibition on this theme highlights how Bonnard, once dubbed the "Nabi très Japonard", integrated Japanese aesthetics into his treatment of space, time and movement, creating works that break with naturalism and impressionism. Works by the French painter will be set against Japanese prints to illustrate their formal correspondences and affinities, underlining the importance of this inspiration for the artist.
Bonnard, the innovator
At the end of the 19th century, Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), a member of the Nabis group, revolutionized the search for artistic modernity with his subtle depiction of visual sensations. Bonnard divided his life between the Paris region, Normandy, Isère and the Côte d'Azur, where he bought a house in Le Cannet, near Aix-en-Provence. The hustle and bustle of the cities, the gentleness of country life and the golden light of the Midi offered the artist pretexts for a new representation of movement and a deeper reflection on color, the fleeting feelings of everyday life and the beauty of the elements. A painter of the joys of life, his vibrant works reveal an unrivalled sense of color and its infinite variations.
The wave of Japan
From the 1860s onwards, and for almost half a century afterwards, there was an infatuation with Japan in France and then in England, notably through Japan's first participation in the Universal Exhibition of 1867.
Bonnard took an early interest in the characteristics of Ukiyo-e prints. The exhibition of Japanese prints at the École des Beaux-arts in the spring of 1890 was a real revelation for him. He turned away from the representation of reality, adopting new aesthetic principles such as supple movement, contrasting colors, arabesque lines, a taste for decoration and stylized elements, and the flattening of space. From then on, his style was truly imbued with Japonisme, a term coined in 1872 by Philippe Burty to define the impact of Japan on Western art.
The "Bonnard and Japan" exhibition
This exhibition at the Hôtel de Caumont features works by Bonnard and a selection of Japanese prints from the prestigious Leskowicz collection, showing how Bonnard's style was influenced to the core by Japanese concepts and aesthetics. A dynamic scenographic presentation will show how works by artists so far apart in time, space and culture, raise similar aesthetic questions and express ideas, emotions and situations with many points in common.
Japan very early on set Bonnard on the path of color, light, the instantaneous and the expression of ephemeral feelings.
Under the direction of Isabelle Cahn, the exhibition catalog complements the exhibition's theme with scientific contributions on Japonism and Japanese prints.
You can buy it directly by following this link: https: //amzn.to/3ZP2hDc
