id: 84500 accession number: 2020.100 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2020.100 updated: 2025-05-02 11:08:39.268000 Fruit and Fruit Dishes, c. 1930. Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867–1947). Oil on canvas; unframed: 59.9 x 70.1 cm (23 9/16 x 27 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift, 2020.100. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York title: Fruit and Fruit Dishes title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1930 creation date earliest: 1925 creation date latest: 1935 current location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde creditline: Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift copyright: © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York --- culture: France, 20th century technique: oil on canvas 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: Unframed: 59.9 x 70.1 cm (23 9/16 x 27 5/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed lower left translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS 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). title: Bonnard's Worlds opening date: 2023-11-05T04:00:00 Bonnard's Worlds. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (organizer) (November 5, 2023-January 28, 2024); The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC (March 2-June 2, 2024). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': "Bonnard: The Late Paintings. Musee National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (February 23-May 21, 1984); Phillips Collection, Washington DC (June 9-August 25, 1984); Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (September 13-November 11, 1984).", 'opening_date': '1984-02-23T00:00:00'} * {'description': 'Bonnard. Tate Gallery, London, United Kingdom (February 12-May 17, 1998); The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (June 17-October 13, 1998).', 'opening_date': '1998-02-12T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE Joe Hessel [1859-1942] Paris, France date: footnotes: *
According to Jean Dauberville and Henry Dauberville, Bonnard, Catalogue Raisonné de l’Œuvre Peint (Paris, 1966), vol. III, p. 174, cat. no. 1206. 
citations: Daniel Varenne, Paris, France, sold to Walter Feilchenfeldt date: ?–1971 footnotes: citations: (Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zurich, Switzerland, April 10, 1974, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Neison Harris) date: 1971–1974 footnotes: *
Many thanks to the Walter Feichenfeldt Archives for this information. Much of the information is also published in the Christie’s 2005 sale catalogue.
citations: Mr. Neison Harris [1915-2001] and Mrs. Neison Harris [1917-2005] Chicago, IL, by descent and consigned to Christie's NY date: 1974–2005 footnotes: citations: (Christie's, New York, NY, November 1, 2005, lot 9, sold to Acquavella Galleries) date: 2005 footnotes: *
According to Kelly Devine Thomas, “Runaway Imp/Mod Sales: Quality Works Fuel High Prices,” ARTnews (November 22, 2005), this painting was purchased by the Acquavella Galleries at the Christie’s sale. 
citations: (Acquavella Galleries, New York, NY, sold to Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley) date: 2005 footnotes: citations: Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: 2005–2020 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2020– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Dauberville, Jean, and Henry Dauberville. Bonnard, Catalogue Raisonné de l'Oeuvre Peint. Paris, France: J. et H. Bernheim, 1966. page number: Reproduced: Vol. III, p. 174, no. 1206 url: Feilchenfeldt, Marianne, and Walter Feilchenfeldt. 25 Jahre Feilchenfeldt in Zürich: 1948-1973. Zurich, Switzerland: [publisher not identified], 1972. page number: Reproduced: no. 24 url: Newman, Sasha M. Bonnard: The Late Paintings. Washington, DC.: Phillips Collection, 1984. page number: Mentioned & Reproduced: P. 190-191, no. 42 url: Elderfield, John and Sarah Whitfield. Bonnard. London, United Kingdom: Tate Gallery Pub, 1998. page number: Mentioned & Reproduced: P. 172-173, no. 60 url: "Exhibitions: Transformative Gift." Art & Antiques XLV, no. 10 (November 2022): 48-53. page number: Reproduced: p. 50; Mentioned: p. 51 url: Cahn, Isabelle. Bonnard. Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2023. page number: Reproduced: p. 250-251, 276, no. 251 url: Shackelford, George T. M., and Elsa Smithgall. Bonnard’s Worlds. Fort Worth, Texas, Washington, DC: Kimbell Art Museum; The Phillips Collection, 2023. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: p. 186-187, no. 48 url: --- IMAGES