id: 155961 accession number: 1991.248 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1991.248 updated: 2024-03-26 02:00:11.726000 Announcement of a Birth, 1898. Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867–1947). Color lithograph; sheet: 15.8 x 12 cm (6 1/4 x 4 3/4 in.); image: 15.8 x 12 cm (6 1/4 x 4 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Louise S. Richards 1991.248 © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York title: Announcement of a Birth title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1898 creation date earliest: 1898 creation date latest: 1898 current location: creditline: Gift of Louise S. Richards copyright: © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York --- culture: France, 19th century technique: color lithograph department: Prints collection: PR - Lithograph type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Bouvet 54 --- 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: Sheet: 15.8 x 12 cm (6 1/4 x 4 3/4 in.); Image: 15.8 x 12 cm (6 1/4 x 4 3/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: approximately 200 support materials: description: cream (3) wove paper watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: across left half: Monsieur et Madame André Mellerio vous annoncent qu' il leur est né une fille Marie Louise 11 bis rue Portalis signed, lower left, in stone: PB translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Private Lives: Home and Family in the Art of the Nabis, Paris, 1889–1900 opening date: 2021-07-01T04:00:00 Private Lives: Home and Family in the Art of the Nabis, Paris, 1889–1900. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (July 1-September 19, 2021). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Louise S. Richards, Oberlin, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: ?-1991 footnotes: citations: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 1991- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES