id: 166546 accession number: 2008.31.b share license status: Other url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2008.31.b updated: 2021-01-15 10:06:55.764000 Nursemaids’ Promenade, Frieze of Carriages, 1895. Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867-1947). Color lithograph; sheet: 136.9 x 47.7 cm (53 7/8 x 18 3/4 in.); image: 136.9 x 47.7 cm (53 7/8 x 18 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Nancy and Joseph P. Keithley by exchange 2008.31.b © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York title: Nursemaids’ Promenade, Frieze of Carriages title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1895 creation date earliest: 1895 creation date latest: 1895 current location: creditline: Gift of Nancy and Joseph P. Keithley by exchange 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: --- 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: 136.9 x 47.7 cm (53 7/8 x 18 3/4 in.); Image: 136.9 x 47.7 cm (53 7/8 x 18 3/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: The third panel signed with the artist's monogram in the stone translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2014-03-09T00:00:00 Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Edmond-Honoré Sagot, Paris (1857-1917) (not stamped, Lugt 2253-54); Maurice Le Garrec, Paris (Sagot’s son-in-law, Lugt 1766a); by descent; [C. G. Boerner, New York]; Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Shaker Heights, OH date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Although this screen was issued in an edition of 110, only about 20 copies survive today. digital description: This charming scene of a nanny and her three charges extends across four panels meant to be mounted as a folding screen. Pierre Bonnard emulated the solidly colored flat forms of Japanese color woodcut prints, which he collected. He featured the screen in his first solo exhibition at Paris's prestigious Galeries Durand-Ruel in 1896. wall description: This charming scene of a nanny and her three charges extends across four panels meant to be mounted as a folding screen. Influenced by the flood of Japanese goods into France, Bonnard emulated the solidly colored flat forms silhouetted against areas of unmodulated color in the symmetrical compositions of ukiyo-e, Japanese color woodcuts, that he collected. Bonnard recalled, "It seemed to me that it was possible to translate light, form, and character with nothing but color, without resorting to shading." Because this impression of Nursemaids' Promenade had never been mounted or displayed, the colors have not faded and remain amazingly fresh—a rare condition for such a decorative work. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES