Pierre Bonnard. The Colour of Memory

This sumptuously illustrated hard cover book explores Pierre Bonnard’s transition from great colourist to modernist master, and emphasises his place in the story of twentieth-century art.
Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947) was one of a generation of artists that helped transform painting during the first half of the twentieth century. As a painter, he preferred to work from memory – imaginatively capturing the spirit of a moment and expressing it through his unique handling of colour and unconventional choice of composition.
Focusing on Bonnard’s work from 1912–47, this catalogue presents a variety of landscapes and intimate domestic scenes which capture the passage of time. These works are the artist’s memories creatively reconstructed to convey a sense of sensuality or melancholy. As well as looking at his processes, his use of photography and his ability to work on different subjects simultaneously, this book relocates Bonnard in the turbulent history of his times. Although modest and withdrawn, he was a subtle witness to events – both in the wider world and his more intimate circle – that can be seen to define the ways in which he thought about and made his very personal art.