circa 1899
Oil on canvas
Throughout his life, Bonnard returned to the countryside both as a subject for his art and a place of leisure. The present work depicts two women and a child in an orchard set in a lush landscape, painted at the height of Bonnard's Nabis period. While studying painting at the Académie Julian in Paris, he had met fellow artists Paul Sérusier, Maurice Denis, and Paul Ranson, all of whom would become central figures of the Nabis movement alongside their master, Paul Gauguin.
The Nabis were characterised by a strong interest in painting en plein air as well as a stylistic tendency towards bold patterning of surface and brightness of palette. By the time Le Verger was painted, the artist had developed a mature and singular style which was informed by the strong influence that Gauguin had over the Nabis. As Sarah Whitfield writes, 'Bonnard makes us aware that the principal subject for the painter must be the surface which, as he says, 'has its colour, its laws over and above those of objects'' (Sarah Whitfield & John Elderfield, Bonnard (exhibition catalogue), Tate Gallery, London, 1998, p. 15). These characteristics are apparent in the present work: the vivid blocks of colour that depict a tranquil outdoor scene demonstrate both the powerful effect of Bonnard's palette and the delicate, quick brushstrokes of plein air painting.
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