Pierre Bonnard

Woman Indoors Reading a Journal, 1925. Oil on canvas, 57 x 35". Private Collection, New York.

Ambroise Vollard, 1906. Oil on canvas, 29 x 36. Art Museum, Zurich, Switzerland.

Tea in the Garden at Cannet, 1925. Pencil on paper. Private Collection, Paris.

I think this quote sums up Bonnard (1867-1947) so well. He's one of my favorite painters; I'm fascinated with his color combinations, figures, water landscapes and most of all his interior scenes. He was great friends of Vuillard and I can see many similarities in their work.

"The glowing calm and lethargy that impregnate all the work of Bonnard answers to a profound human response, to an interior richness that has no need of mechanical subterfuges, or brilliant or demanding, in order to efface the nothingness of empty time, or in order to be moved by the presence of man." (Raymond Cogniat)

Edouard Vuillard

(1868-1940). French painter, draughtsman, designer, and lithographer. In the 1890's he was a member of the Nabis and at this time painted intimate interiors and scenes from Montmartre, his sensitive patterning of flattish colors owing something to Gauguin and something to Puvis de Chavannes, but creating a distinctive manner of his own. He also designed posters and theatrical sets. From about 1900 he turned to a more naturalistic style and with Bonnard became the main practitioner of Intimisme, making use of the camera to capture fleeting, informal groupings of his friends and relatives in their homes and gardens. He had several close female friends and preferred painting women and children to men. His work also included landscapes and portraits. Although he was financially successful, he lived modestly, sharing an apartment with his widowed mother until her death in 1928; she often features in his paintings. He was reserved and quiet in personality, although affectionate and much liked. For many years he kept a detailed journal in which he revealed his thoughtful attitude towards art and life. (Ian Chilvers)

Maurice Denis

The Muse, 1893. Oil on canvas. 67 x 56 in. Musee de Orsay, Paris.

"All that is necessary to paint well is to be sincere." - Maurice Denis

Les Nabis

The Stitch, 1893, Edouard Vuillard. Oil on canvas. Yale University Art Gallery.

Sunlit Interior: Madame Vuillard's Room at La Closerie Des Genets, 1912-1922, Edouard Vuillard. Distemper on paper mounted on canvas. Tate Gallery.

The Vision after the Sermon or Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, 1888 by Paul Gauguin. Oil on canvas. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh.

(Hebrew 'prophets') group of French artists, active in the 1890s in Paris, united in their admiration of Paul Gauguin - the mystic content of his work, the surface pattern, and intense color. In practice their work was decorative and influenced Art Nouveau. Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard and Paul Serusier (1864-1927) were leading members. (Brockhampton)