Paris Update Art Notes
BONNARD FOR SALE
“Pêches” (c. 1916), an oil painting by Pierre Bonnard. Estimate: €200,000-€300,000.
For lovers of Pierre Bonnard and Postimpressionist art, this March offers a unique opportunity to really get to know the artist and the latest thinking on his work. A major retrospective begins at the Musee d’Orsay on March 17, and a sale of drawings, paintings and Bonnard memorabilia is to be held at the Osenat auction house in Fontainebleau on March 29. An exhibition of the 130 lots will be held in central Paris at 66, Ave de Breteuil, 75007 from Thursday 19 -26 March from 10h -13h and 14h -19h.
The sale includes 30 oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, letters, sketchbooks and an illustrated diary in which Bonnard diligently recorded the daily changes in the weather and the light. The highlight of the sale, a charming painting of a street scene with two ladies in the foreground and another two in the distance, “La Promenade,” dated 1900, is estimated at €200,000-€300,000. Another painting, “Little Girl with a Cat,” dated 1899, is estimated at 400,000-500,000 euros.
What is really interesting is to view the drawings, which were preparatory sketches for his paintings. Bonnard never painted from life – he always returned to his studio. This private collection belonged to Bonnard’s great-nephew, the art historian Antoine Terrasse, and most of these works have never been through a saleroom before, although several of the most important have been publicly shown in various exhibitions around the world. Claudia Barbieri
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