Pierre Bonnard. The Colour of Memory

Pierre Bonnard is one of French art’s most magnificent colourists and innovators of composition and perspective. His paintings open windows into a private world of quiet everyday events. But they are rarely direct translations of what the artist has seen. Bonnard paints from memory, detaching himself from his subjects and resurrecting them in colour, plane and form. He fills his canvas with the colour of memory.

Award winning sound designer Peter Albrechtsen, known for his work on films like Thelma, Generation Wealth and Dunkirk, and film director Sun Hee Engelstoft, who recently premiered with the praised film Forget Me Not, had created three unique soundscapes for central works in the exhibition: The Dining Room, The Studio with Mimosas and Lunch in the Garden. The selected works were brought to life through sound compositions which guided the eye around in complex surfaces of the paintings and their concealed motifs. With atmospheric sounds of nature recorded in the parts of France where Bonnard lived, the experience became total and the paintings’ wealth of colour gained an extra dimension.

Pierre Bonnard’s place in the history of art has long been debated, especially because his work straddles two centuries. Does he belong in the late 19th century, where he enjoys early success as an artist? Or should he be written into 20th-century modernism alongside artists like Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)? The gist of the discussion is whether Bonnard’s paintings are “modern”. This also involves the question of what we expect of so-called “modern painting”. Pierre Bonnard divides opinions, not only today but also in his own time. Matisse praises Bonnard’s paintings, while Picasso calls them a “potpourri of indecision”.

The exhibition looked at Pierre Bonnard as being a modern artist in 20th century. His modernity is not conspicuous, in the way of Matisse and Picasso. He does not reduce his subject to pure geometric forms or colour planes. He never abandons figuration but weaves it into abstraction. Bonnard insists on being free and independent, including of the fast-changing art movements of the 20th century.

Augustinus Fonden

Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond

The exhibition is organised by Tate Modern, London in collaboration with The Glyptotek and Kunstforum Wien, Vienna. It is curated by Anna Kærsgaard Gregersen, Curator, Modern Collection, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and Matthew Gale, Head of Displays, Tate Modern, London.