id: 135136 accession number: 1958.17 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1958.17 updated: 2025-05-08 11:22:01.074000 The Road to Nantes, 1929. Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867–1947). Oil on fabric; framed: 92.1 x 89.9 x 7.6 cm (36 1/4 x 35 3/8 x 3 in.); unframed: 69.2 x 66.2 cm (27 1/4 x 26 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr., 1958.17. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York title: The Road to Nantes title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1929 creation date earliest: 1929 creation date latest: 1929 current location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde creditline: Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. copyright: © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York --- 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: 92.1 x 89.9 x 7.6 cm (36 1/4 x 35 3/8 x 3 in.); Unframed: 69.2 x 66.2 cm (27 1/4 x 26 1/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed in light-gray paint lower left corner: Bonnard translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Bonnard and His Environment opening date: 1964-10-05T04:00:00 Bonnard and His Environment. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (organizer) (October 5-November 29, 1964); The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (January 8-February 28, 1965); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (March 31-May 30, 1965). title: Pierre Bonnard, 1867-1947 opening date: 1966-01-06T05:00:00 Pierre Bonnard, 1867-1947. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (January 6-March 6, 1966). title: Pierre Bonnard: 100th Anniversary opening date: 1966-10-08T04:00:00 Pierre Bonnard: 100th Anniversary. Haus der Kunst, Munich, Mùnich, Germany (organizer) (October 8, 1966-January 1, 1967); Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, France (January 13-April 15, 1967). 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). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'New York, Museum of Modern Art; cma. Pierre Bonnard (1948), no. 60, 104 (repr.).', 'opening_date': '1948-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Summer Loan (June-September 1949), no catalogue (group of fourteen Hanna paintings on loan).', 'opening_date': '1949-06-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Palm Beach, Society of the Four Arts. Loan Exhibition of Works by Pierre Bonnard (1957), no. 20.', 'opening_date': '1957-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'New York, Museum of Modern Art; Los Angeles County Museum; Art Institute of Chicago. Bonnard and His Environment (1964-65), 108 (no. 50), 54 (repr.).', 'opening_date': '1964-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'London, Royal Academy of Arts. Pierre Bonnard (1966), no. 207.', 'opening_date': '1966-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Munich, Haus der Kunst. Pierre Bonnard (1966-67), no. 109 (repr.).', 'opening_date': '1966-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Paris, Orangerie des Tuileries. Pierre Bonnard: Centenaire de sa naissance (1967), no. 120-bis (repr.).', 'opening_date': '1967-01-01T00:00:00'} * {'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 Bought by Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, in February 1930. Pierre Loeb, Paris. Valentine Gallery, New York. Sold in 1944 to Leonard C. Hanna. Bequeathed to the CMA in 1958. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art. In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. page number: cat. fig. 1 url: https://archive.org/details/LeonardCHanna/page/n27 “Annual Report of the Year 1958.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 46, no. 6 (June 1959): 111–158. page number: Mentioned: p. 122 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25142346 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. 64-65, fig. 6 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. 50-53, Vol. I, no. 19 url: --- IMAGES