Stairs in the Artist's Garden

1942/1944

Pierre Bonnard

Artist, French, 1867 - 1947

Profusions of lemon yellow and lime green represent bushes and trees against a vivid blue sky in this nearly square, loosely painted landscape. The lower left quadrant of the canvas is filled with a shrub painted with bright and warm yellow. A spring-green tree rises the height of the composition to the right, taking up that quarter of the canvas. Three steps between the two are painted buttercup yellow on the risers and lilac purple on the treads. A copper-orange and brick-red rectangular area above this could be a patch of dirt under a ribbon of green, presumably grass. A tree with a canary-yellow and shamrock-green canopy is just to left of center in the distance and is flanked by smaller trees painted with violet and marigold orange. The branch of a tree mostly out of view dips into the scene in the top left corner against the ultramarine-blue sky. The artist signed the painting in the lower left corner, “Bonnard.”
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall (possibly the original dimensions): 60 × 73 cm (23 5/8 × 28 3/4 in.)
    overall (dimensions with extensions): 63 × 73 cm (24 13/16 × 28 3/4 in.)
    framed: 92.39 × 102.23 × 13.65 cm (36 3/8 × 40 1/4 × 5 3/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1970.17.11

More About this Artwork

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist [1867-1947]; by inheritance to the Bonnard-Terrasse family, Paris.[1] Anonymous collection, Los Angeles. (Wildenstein, London, New York, and Paris); sold 15 June 1965 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York;[2] gift 1970 to NGA.
[1]Inheritance cited in catalogue raisonné by Dauberville, vol III (1973), no. 1583. [2]Provenance according to NGA curatorial records and the Ailsa Mellon Bruce notebook now in NGA archives.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 168, repro.

1984

  • Pierre Bonnard, Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt am Main, and Kunsthaus Zürich, 1984-1985, no. 150, repro.

1987

  • Loan for display with permanent collection, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1987-1988.

1989

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Robert Mosbacher, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 1989-1993.

1993

  • Extended loan for use by Secretary Ron Brown, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., 1993.

1994

  • Bonnard at Le Bosquet, Hayward Gallery, London; Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1994, no. 50, repro., as Steps in the Artist's Garden.

1999

  • Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 70, repro.

  • Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat.

2006

  • Pierre Bonnard: l'oeuvre d'art, un arrèt du temps", Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, 2006, no. 81, repro.

2011

  • Bonnard and Le Cannet. In the Mediterranean Light, Musée Bonnard, Le Cannet, 2011, no. 67, repro.

2012

  • Pierre Bonnard, Fondation Beyeler, Basel, 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2013

  • Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016, pl. 68.

2019

  • Pierre Bonnard: The Colour of Memory, Tate, London; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen; BA-CA Kunstforum, Vienna, 2019 - 2020, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1966

  • Dauberville, Jean, and Henry Dauberville. Bonnard, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. 4 vols. Paris, 1966-1974: no. 1583, repro.

  • Goldwater, Robert. "The Glory that was France." Art News 65 (March 1966): 47, repro.

  • Young, Mahonri Sharp. "The Mellon Collections: The Great Years of French Painting." Apollo 83 (June 1966): 434, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 34, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 578, no. 886, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 54, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left with atelier stamp: Bonnard

Wikidata ID

Q20193391

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