Child with Lamp

1897·Lithograph printed in pink, green, brick red, blue, and orange on light gray chine·Image: 32 × 44.5 cm (12 5/8 × 17 9/16 in.); Sheet: 41 × 57.2 cm (16 3/16 × 22 9/16 in.)

<p>Bonnard was sometimes called the Nabi Japonard, or Japanese Nabi, because he used the asymmetrical composition,elevated viewpoint, and bold colors of japanese prints in his own work. Like Vuillard, Bonnard used children and his own family as favorite models for his early interiors. Attention here centers on the lamp, an example of Bonnard's symbolist interest in the secret life of ordinary objects. As in Japanese composition, Bonnard constructs the space from several points of view, so that we seem to enter the picture from the position of the object.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1897
Medium: Lithograph printed in pink, green, brick red, blue, and orange on light gray chine
Dimensions: Image: 32 × 44.5 cm (12 5/8 × 17 9/16 in.); Sheet: 41 × 57.2 cm (16 3/16 × 22 9/16 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Pierre Bonnard

Artist

Pierre Bonnard

Painting

Pierre Bonnard was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist group of avant-garde painters Les Nabis, his early work was strongly influenced by the work of Paul Gauguin, as well as the prints of Hokusai and other Japanese artists. Bonnard was a leading figure in the transition from Impressionism to Modernism. He painted landscapes, urban scenes, portraits and intimate domestic scenes, where the backgrounds, colors and painting style usually took precedence over the subject.

Fontenay-aux-Roses, France

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