Paris, Rue de Parme on Bastille Day

1890

Pierre Bonnard

Associated Names
Pierre Bonnard

Painter, French, 1867 - 1947

We look down at an angle onto a pale yellow city street lined with French flags in this tall painting. A carriage drawn by a light brown horse is driven away from us by a person wearing a muted pink jacket and white cap. The passenger wears a black coat and rounded top hat. Closer to us and in the lower right corner of the canvas, two women, a young girl, and a man stand on the white sidewalk running parallel to the street. They all have pale skin. One woman wears a high-necked, long red gown and black cap. She cradles a stick or flower in one arm and holds the little girl’s hand with her other. The girl wears a white dress with tiny black polka dots, and a teal-blue, feathered cap. Both have blond hair. The man stands under the large, gold dial face of a public clock to our right. He has gray hair, wears a brown suit, and appears to look toward the woman and child with his hands in his pockets. Another woman wearing an ocean-blue dress and crimson-red cap walks away. A second carriage is farther down the road on the far curb. Two men and a woman walk across store fronts there. Flags vertically striped with red, white, and blue hang along the street. The scene is loosely painted with some areas of flat color and visible brushstrokes.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 79.2 x 40.3 cm (31 3/16 x 15 7/8 in.)
    framed: 93.4 x 54.3 x 3.2 cm (36 3/4 x 21 3/8 x 1 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1995.47.2

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist’s brother, Charles François Bonnard [1864-1941], Paris, from 1890.[1] (Galerie Beyeler, Basel); purchased 22 May 1958 by (Paul Rosenberg & Co., New York); purchased 6 October 1958 by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia;[2] gift 1995 to NGA.

[1] Galerie Beyeler wrote to Paul Rosenberg & Co. on 23 May 1958 indicating that the painting formerly belonged to Bonnard’s brother (The Paul Rosenberg Archives, a Gift of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg, [II.K.35]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York; copy in NGA curatorial file). In a memorandum to Paul Mellon on 30 September 1958, Paul Rosenberg & Co. indicated that the painting was in “Private collection, Paris since execution of the canvas” (The Paul Rosenberg Archives, a Gift of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg, [II.L.28]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York; copy in NGA curatorial file). “Private collection” probably refers to Bonnard’s brother, Charles Bonnard.

[2] See “Ledger Volume: ‘Stock Book’” from The Paul Rosenberg Archives, a Gift of Elaine and Alexandre Rosenberg, [IV.A.3.a]. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York; copy in NGA curatorial file.

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, D.C., 1966, no. 153, repro.

1980

  • Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European and American Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1980, no. 126, repro.

1982

  • Manet and Modern Paris, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982-1983, no. 92, 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. 54.

Bibliography

1966

  • Kuh, Katherine. "Golden Loans for a Silver Anniversary." Saturday Review (19 March 1966): repro. p. 46.

Wikidata ID

Q20190208

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