Bonnard and the Nabis

By Albert Kostenevitch

Pierre Bonnard was the leader of a group of post-impressionist painters who called themselves the Nabis, from the Hebrew word meaning ‘prophet’. Bonnard, Vuillard, Roussel and Denis, the most distinguished of the Nabis, revolutionized the spirit of decorative techniques during one of the richest periods in the history of French painting. Influenced by Odilon Redon and Puvis de Chavanne, by popular imagery and Japanese etchings, this post-impressionist group was above all a close circle of friends who shared the same cultural background and interests. An increasing individualism in their art often threatened the group’s unity and although tied together by a common philosophy their work clearly diverged. This publication lets us compare and put into perspective the artists within this fascinating group. The works presented in this collection offer a palette of extraordinary poetic expressions: candid in Bonnard, ornamental and mysterious in Vuillard, gently dream-like in Denis, grim and almost bitter in Vallotton, the author shares with us the lives of these artists to the very source of their creative gifts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Parkstone International
• Release date: May 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781780429632

Reviews for Bonnard and the Nabis

[presto_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bonnard and the Nabis includes the work of Pierre Bonnard along with Edouard Vuillard, Ker Xavier Roussel, Maurice Denis and Felix Vallotton. The first half of the book concerns Bonnard; in pages seven through fifty-nine the well illustrated text discusses his life and work. The Masterworks runs from page sixty to one hundred and thirteen, and comprises full page plates of Bonnard’s paintings, occasionally accompanied by a page of explanatory text. The remainder of the book is given over to the other four artists; following a general discussion of the Nabis the life and work of each artist is discussed individually along with colour plates of their work. The book concludes with five separate biographies of a page each, notes and a bibliography.This is a fine book, the text is comprehensive and very readable, and it is superbly illustrated almost entirely in full colour with the vast majority of the images being full page size or nearly so. The plates illustrating the text are placed close to their mention in the text. In addition to the work of the artists under discussion there are several examples of the paintings of other artists for purposes of comparison. There are about 200 illustrations in total, all but about half a dozen in full colour, and the quality of reproduction is excellent.