The Letter

c. 1906

Pierre Bonnard

Artist, French, 1867 - 1947

Pierre Bonnard

Attributed to

Shown from the waist up, we look slightly down onto a pale-skinned woman as she looks down and writes on a piece of paper in this vertical painting. The scene is loosely painted so brushstrokes are visible throughout and detail, especially in the background, is hard to make out. The woman wears a midnight-blue garment with long sleeves and a ruffled collar, and her hair is pinned or twisted up on the crown of her head. Her dark pink lips curve in a slight smile as she looks down with the pen poised in her right hand. Her left hand, to our right, rests with the fingertips on the sheet of paper. The table top is parchment white, and pink, white, and mint-green forms, presumably paper and a stationary box, sit in front of the woman and to our left. Her chair has a curved back and is upholstered with claret red. A vertical golden yellow strip on the right edge of the painting may indicate a curtain or wall, and a blend of muted blue, ash brown, and emerald green suggest patterned fabric or wallpaper behind her. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner, “Bonnard.”
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On View

East Building Ground Level, Gallery 103-E


Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 55 x 47.5 cm (21 5/8 x 18 11/16 in.)
    framed: 78.4 x 70.1 x 4.4 cm (30 7/8 x 27 5/8 x 1 3/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1963.10.86


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Acquired 1906 from the artist by (Bernheim-Jeune, Paris); sold to Alexandre Natanson [1867-1936], Paris;[1] (his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 16 May 1929, no. 88); purchased by (Galerie Étienne Bignou, Paris and New York) for Chester Dale [1882-1962]; [2] bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1] Jean and Henry Dauberville, Bonnard, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Paris, 1968, no. 389.
[2] Annotated sales catalogue, National Gallery of Art Library. See also Chester Dale papers, copies NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1931

  • Renoir and His Tradition, Museum of French Art, New York, 1931, no. 23.

1938

  • Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Prints by Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard, Art Institute of Chicago, 1938-1939, no. 7, repro.

1943

  • Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1943-1951, unnumbered cat., repro.

1952

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1952, no. 11, repro.

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

1980

  • Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European and American Painting 1880-1906, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980, not in cat.

Bibliography

1930

  • Fage, André. Le collectionneur de peintures modernes.Paris, 1930: 252.

1931

  • "Maud Dale Presents Renoir and His Tradition at French Museum."The Art Digest (December 1, 1931): 32, repro.

1938

  • Meier-Graefe, Julius. "Bonnard." The Art News (31December 1938): 8, repro.

1943

  • Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. Philadelphia, 1943:, color frontispiece.

1952

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1952 (2nd ed., 1960; rev. ed., 1965): 11, repro.

  • "Chester Dale's Collection." Pictures on Exhibit Vol XV, no 3 (December 1952): 11.

  • "Best of Dale Collection goes on Display at Gallery Today." The Sunday Star_ (23 November 1952): A14.

1954

  • Walker, John. "The Letter." Ladies Home Journal (March 1954): 64, repro.

1960

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1960 (2nd ed.): 12, repro.

1965

  • Twentieth Century French Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965 (rev. ed.): 11, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 16.

1966

  • Dauberville, Jean, and Henry Dauberville. Bonnard, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. 4 vols. Paris, 1966-1974: no. 389, repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 9, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 32, repro.

1979

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 128, pl. 115.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 576, no. 881, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 52, repro.

1993

  • Duffy, Jean. "Bonnard and Josipovici: 'Il ne s'agit pas de peindre la vie, il s'agit de rendre vivante la peinture.'"Word&Image Vol. 9 No.4 (October - December 1993): 289, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Bonnard

Wikidata ID

Q20191025


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