PIERRE BONNARD

Girl with a Straw Hat (1903)

View from the Artist's Studio, Le Cannet (1945)

Pierre Bonnard was a founding member of a group of artists called Les Nabis (Nabi means prophet in Hebrew), a short-lived group of Post-Impressionist artists in Paris in the 1890s. Although trained as a lawyer (the wishes of his father), Bonnard really wanted to be a painter and at age 21, he began studying at the Académie Julian in Paris; many of his fellow classmates would become members of Les Nabis. Know for his use of intense color, Bonnard's earlier works such as the top painting, Girl with a Straw Hat, were still being influenced by Impressionist painters such as Renoir. During his lifetime Bonnard also contributed illustrations for many books and magazines, successfully published several series of lithographs and even designed set decorations for theater and ballet productions.  Bonnard constantly showed his works in major art exhibitions not just in France, but throughout the world.  In 1910 he made his first trip to the south of France; after making annual trips to the area, he permanently moved there in 1925.  Bonnard would paint over 300 paintings, such as the bottom painting, View from the Artist's Studio, Le Cannet, that reflect the famous light and color of this area.  These paintings are just two examples of why many art historians believe that Pierre Bonnard is considered one of the greatest colorist painters of the modern art.

Both of these masterpieces are part of the collection assembled by Mrs. Harry L. Bradley during the second half of the 20th century, beginning in 1950.  Over the next twenty-five years she acquired over 400 works of art.  The idea of gifting the collection to the Milwaukee Art Museum came after she and her husband noticed how much families enjoyed visiting the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  They wanted the same enjoyment for their hometown museum even though other major U.S. museums tried to obtain the collection.  In addition to the works of art, Mrs. Bradley gave the museum $1,000,000 to erect the Bradley Wing to house the collection.  After the Bradley Wing opened in 1975 until her death in 1977, Mrs. Bradley came to the museum nearly every day to view her collection and greet museum visitors.

CHRIST SHOWN TO THE PEOPLE (ECCE HOMO)

By the glow of blazing torchlight Pontius Pilate presents Christ to the unseen crowd that will decide his fate.  Pilate's extravagent, fur-lined coat and the page's opulent jewelry contrast with the nearly naked Christ.  Christ's simple yet eloquent expression contrasts with the ample jowls and corpulent cheeks of his judge, and the richly detailed costumes of the page and Pilate make Christ's partial nudity even more touching.

Having painted the subject of Christ shown to the people several times before, Tiziano Vecellio, born between 1488 and 1490 near Venice, and known to the art world as Titian, returned to the theme at the very end of his career, working on this painting from 1570 up until his death in 1576.  The painting looks unfinished due to the sketchiness of the flickering torch at the upper left corner.  Titian was one of the most sought-after painters of his day, by both popes and secular rulers.  For nearly sixty years he would be the most important member of the 16th century Venetian school of painters.  His powerful brushstrokes, subdued palette and emotional subjects were typical of his late style.

This painting is part of the fantastic, permanent collection of the St. Louis Art Museum.

VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH AN ANGEL

This painting hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago and was painted by Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, otherwise known as Botticelli, sometime between 1475 and 1485.  This is one of several works Botticelli painted showing the Virgin Mary tenderly embracing the Christ child.

Although he began his career much later in life than most other Renaissance painters, he is considered one of the greatest Italian Renaissance painters.  In 1481, he was one of the artists Pope Sixtus IV handpicked to paint frescoes on the walls of the Sistine Chapel.

VERMEER AND CAMERA OBSCURA

Many art historians believe the17th-century Dutch Master painter Johannes Vermeer used the camera obscura.

The reason they believe Vermeer was used camera obscura is by observing the visual effects in some of his paintings. For example, when you look at the above painting Officer and Laughing Girl, you will notice the officer's body is nearly twice the size of the girl.  The disproportionate size is a result of seeing the scene through a lens, in other words, a photographic perspective.  If this were a photograph rather than a painting, the size variation would not be as noticeable.  We are quite familiar today with foreground objects appearing very large in snapshots, but in 17th-century painting this was rather unusual.  Vermeer's fellow painters would have painted the officer and girl equally in size.  This scene is correct in the visual sense; the officer just looks so much bigger because of his closeness to the viewer.

If you would like to read more about Vermeer and his use of camera obscura, click here for a very interesting three-part article, Vermeer and the Camera Obscura.

CAMERA OBSCURA

In the previous post, I mentioned that Canaletto often used a camera obscura as an aid to creating his drawings and paintings.  Let's discuss what that is...

The principle of the camera obscura has been known since ancient Greek and Chinese time, but it became popular during the Renaissance of the 1500s.  The literal translation of the Latin term is dark room (camera for "room", obscura for "dark").

It works like this:  You are in a very dark room on a very sunny day.  Cut a small hole in a window cover and look at the opposite wall.  What do you see?  Magic! There in full color will be a view of outside the window upside down! This magic is explained by a simple law of the physical world.  Light travels in a straight line and when some of the rays reflected from a bright subject pass through a small hole in thin material they do not scatter but form an upside down image on a flat surface parallel to the hole.  With mirrors positioned inside the room the image could be flipped 180 degrees and reflected right-size-up onto a surface for tracing onto a canvas.

In the image above you can see how an artist would use the camera obscura to help create his painting.  The reflected image inside the camera obscura not only miniaturizes the scene reflected, but it also intensifies color, and highlights and increases the contrast of light and dark areas.  The image could then be traced to create an accurate sketch and be transformed into a painting.  

In the mid-17th century the portable camera obscura was developed and became the basis of the photographic camera.

VIEW OF THE RIVA DEGLI SCHIAVONI, VENICE

Venice, with its light and architecture, its canals and people, was a subject of endless fascination and exploration for Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto.  In this painting from the late 1730s, the flicker of light on the water, the gondoliers, and the clearly delineated buildings against a crisp blue sky demonstrate Canaletto's passion for recording the details of his native Venice. Often using a camera obscura as an aid to composition, Canaletto painted his compelling views of Venice primarily for Englishmen, a masterpiece being the ultimate souvenir of their Grand Tour.  This painting hangs in the Toledo Art Museum.