Pierre Bonnard The late still lifes and interiors

Organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this catalogue to an important exhibition is the latest contribution by a major museum to the ongoing reevaluation of Pierre Bonnard's work from the last decades of his life. It is distinguished by a focus on more than 75 of Bonnard's paintings, drawings, and other works on paper that are related exclusively to his late still lifes and interiors. The catalogue includes five essays, the most significant written by Amory, Remi Labrusse, and Jack Flam. Amory's essay situates Bonnard's still lifes within a broader art historical context by comparing him to the French tradition exemplified by Chardin and Cezanne. Amory also makes interesting connections between Bonnard's paintings and his often "misunderstood" drawings. Labrusse evaluates Bonnard's engagement with Mallarme's poetics, a fascination that sustained Bonnard through his entire career but manifested itself in a more nuanced way in his late work. Lastly, Flam thoughtfully articulates a much-needed historiography and a proposal for a new way to consider Bonnard in relation to 20th-century styles and movements. A comprehensive bibliography, chronology, and numerous color plates, many with brief expositions, are included. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates and above. D. E. Gliem Eckerd College

This beautifully and generously illustrated (146 reproductions, including 125 in full color) publication accompanies the first museum show to focus on the late still-life imagery and interiors created by French painter Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) while he was living in the south of France. At that time, the artist was painting radiant, vibrant, colorful masterpieces, permeated with Mediterranean light and influences from his immediate surroundings, which to some viewers appeared more reminiscent of works created by the 19th-century impressionists than those by 20th-century modernists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Assessing more than 75 paintings, drawings, and watercolors-some of which are rarely seen outside of private art collections-in detailed catalog entries that encompass provenances, selected references, exhibition histories, and analyses, Amory (associate curator, Robert Lehman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art) and others also attempt to reassess Bonnard's career and late artworks in terms of 20th-century art and French modernism. A selected chronology and lists of contributors and lenders further enhance this well-documented, thoughtful, and meticulous scholarly publication. Strongly recommended.-Cheryl Ann Lajos, Free Lib. of Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.