id: 126758 accession number: 1949.18 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1949.18 updated: 2024-04-18 11:02:05.736000 The Dessert, 1921. Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867–1947). Oil on fabric; framed: 114.6 x 117.5 x 7.9 cm (45 1/8 x 46 1/4 x 3 1/8 in.); unframed: 76.2 x 80 cm (30 x 31 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the Hanna Fund 1949.18 © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris title: The Dessert title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1921 creation date earliest: 1921 creation date latest: 1921 current location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde creditline: Gift of the Hanna Fund copyright: © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris --- culture: France, 20th century technique: oil on fabric department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960 type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867–1947) - artist Pierre Bonnard was a law student when he began his artistic training in 1887 at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he met Paul Sérusier (1864-1927) and the theorist and painter Maurice Denis (1870-1943). Both would be influential in his artistic career and become Bonnard's lifelong friends. In 1889, the year he obtained his law degree, he saw the exhibition at Café Volpini (see Gauguin, Woman in the Waves, no. 100) and was particularly impressed with Gauguin's work. Sérusier, after having returned from studying with Gauguin in Pont-Aven, decided to form his own artistic group called the Nabis (Hebrew: prophets). The founding members of the Nabis included Denis, who wrote the manifesto for the group, "Définition du néo-traditionnisme" (published in May 1890 in Art et critique), Bonnard, Paul Ranson (1864-1909), and Henri-Gabriel Ibels (1867-1936). Their first exhibition occurred in 1891, and they were later joined by Ker-Xavier Roussel (1867-1944) and Vuillard (q.v.). Based loosely on the synthetist goals established by Gauguin and Émile Bernard, the movement was created from Sérusier's vision of an artistic brotherhood dedicated to symbolism whereby a universal language could be expressed through symbols. The Nabis were opposed to the naturalism taught at academies by artists such as Bouguereau (q.v.) and wanted to move away from didactic and moral paintings toward a more decorative style characterized by simplified drawing, flat patches of color, and heavy set contours. Bonnard's works of the 1890s were influenced by the innovations of Gauguin as well as Japanese prints, which were easily accessible in nineteenth-century Paris. His paintings took on a decorative quality, mirroring his artistic expressions in other media such as stained glass, furniture, pottery, and painted screens. Bonnard's and Vuillard's domestic interior paintings of the 1890s were often described using the term intimisme. In 1891 Bonnard also experimented with other media, including poster designs and lithographs, which inspired his friend Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), whom he had met through La revue blanche, a magazine that published the Nabis' work. Around 1900 the members of the Nabis began to drift apart. Between 1905 and 1910 Bonnard and Vuillard traveled to England, Belgium, Holland, Spain, and Italy, visiting many museums. Bonnard's art began to gravitate toward impressionism, but his colors were more expressive and his compositions more overtly structured; elements of the painted interiors such as doors, windows or pieces of furniture often provided a strong compositional framework. He also worked extensively with photographs. His late works were acclaimed by fellow Parisians like Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and Paul Signac (1863-1935). After 1920 Bonnard exhibited extensively and became an internationally renowned artist, receiving much recognition in the United States, where he traveled in 1926. --- measurements: Framed: 114.6 x 117.5 x 7.9 cm (45 1/8 x 46 1/4 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 76.2 x 80 cm (30 x 31 1/2 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed dark red at lower left: Bonnard translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. opening date: 1958-03-04T05:00:00 In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958). title: Object in Focus: Pierre Bonnard's The Dessert opening date: 1997-09-01T00:00:00 Object in Focus: Pierre Bonnard's The Dessert. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 1-October 14, 1997). title: Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2006-05-27T00:00:00 Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum, China (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009). title: Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection opening date: 2022-09-11T04:00:00 Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'Possibly Paris. Première exposition des collections au profit de la Société des Amis du Luxembourg (according to damaged label on the back).', 'opening_date': None} * {'description': "Antwerp, Kunst van Heden/Art Contemporain. Exposition d'art français moderne (1926), no. 3, Au dessert, App. à M. A. Kapferer.", 'opening_date': '1926-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': "Possibly Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts. Exposition d'Art Français Moderne (1929), no. 418, Après le déjeuner; or no. 421, Dessert, both owned by Kapferer.", 'opening_date': '1929-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Paris, Galerie O. Pétridès. 18 peintures de Bonnard (1943), no. 15 (repr.), Après le déjeuner.', 'opening_date': '1943-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'New York, Paul Rosenberg. Bonnard (1956), no. 6, 10 (repr.).', 'opening_date': '1956-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Akron (Ohio) Art Institute. Masterpiece Series (1957), no catalogue.', 'opening_date': '1957-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; September 1 - October 14, 1997. "Object in Focus: Pierre Bonnard\'s The Dessert."', 'opening_date': '1997-09-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'CMA (organizer). Beijing World Art Museum, China, May 26 - Aug. 27, 2006; Mori Arts Center, Tokyo, Japan: Sept. 9 - Nov. 26, 2006; Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea: Dec. 18, 2006 - March 31, 2007; Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea: Apr. 7 - May 20, 2007; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: June 9 - Sept. 16, 2007; Cleveland Museum of Art, Oct. 21, 2007- January 13, 2008; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN, Feb. 21-June 1, 2008; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT, June 22 - September 21, 2008; and the Detroit Institute of Arts, MI, October 12, 2008 - January 18, 2009: "Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art"', 'opening_date': '2006-05-26T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE Henri Kapferer [1870-1956] and Marcel Kapferer [1872-1966], Paris date: By 1924 footnotes: *
The Kapferer brothers are listed as the lenders/owners of Bonnard’s Le Dessert, no. 108 in the Première exposition au profit de la Société des Amis du Luxembourg.  The Bonnard catalogue raisonné incorrectly lists this exhibition as taking place in 1932.
citations: (Galerie O. Pétridès, Paris date: By 1943 footnotes: *
While there have been some suggestions that the Bonnard was with Galerie Pétridès in 1932, there does not appear to be any confirming documentation; however, the painting does appear in a 1943 Bonnard exhibition at the gallery (no. 15, Après le déjeuner).  
citations: (Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: Until 1949 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio date: 1949- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Paul Rosenberg & Co., invoice to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Feb. 7, 1949, in CMA curatorial file. page number: url: Galerie O. Pétridès. 18 peintures de Bonnard. Paris: Galerie O. Pétridès, 1943. page number: url: Société des amis du Luxembourg. 1re exposition de collectionneurs: ouverte du 10 mars au 10 avril 1924 au profit de la Sociʹetʹe des Amis du Luxembourg en l'Hotel de la Curiositʹe et des Beaux-Arts. Paris: Frazier-Soye, 1924. page number: url: Francis, Henry S. “The Art of Pierre Bonnard.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 37, no. 1 (January 1950): 2, 5–8. page number: Reproduced: p. 2; Mentioned: p. 5-8 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25141599 The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 516 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n95 Henning, Edward B. “South of His House, North of His House: Nyack, a Painting by Fairfield Porter.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 58, no. 3 (March 1971): 85–90. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 86-87, fig. 3 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25152366 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 226 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n246 Henning, Edward B. “Pierre Bonnard: La Terrasse de Café.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 65, no. 2 (February 1978): 58–65. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 64, fig. 5 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25159565 Argencourt, Louise d', and Roger Diederen. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 4. European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 46-47, Vol. I, no. 17 url: Franklin, David. The Cleveland Museum of Art. London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd., 2012. page number: Reproduced: p. 68 - 69 url: Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 299 url: Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art: Picture Book No. 4 . [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1952. page number: Reproduced: p. 42 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAPaintings1952 --- IMAGES