Montmartre in the Rain
Currently on view
Pierre Bonnard (1867 - 1947), Paris, 1897
oil on paper on panel, 69.9 cm x 95 cm
Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij, the Rembrandt Association and the VSBfonds)
When he painted this townscape, Bonnard took on a double challenge: the light was failing and it was raining. He was looking out of the window of his Montmartre studio at a view he depicted in a number of works.
His decision to place an expanse of blank wall at the centre of the composition is daring. It gives the least picturesque part of the painting the most emphasis. But there is more to it: look at the perspective. Bonnard has used the difference in distance to the middle roofs and the street in an illogical way. He borrowed ideas for this kind of division of the picture plane and irregular perspective from Japanese prints.
- Object number
- s0515S2008
- Dimensions
- 69.9 cm x 95 cm, 86.5 cm x 111.5 cm, 8 cm
- artist
- Pierre Bonnard
- Credits
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij, the Rembrandt Association and the VSBfonds)
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Ongekend. Verhalen rond 10 jaar aanwinsten, 5 February-12 September 2021
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Prints in Paris 1900. Van elitair tot populair, 3 March-11 June 2017
Basel, Fondation Beyeler, Pierre Bonnard, 29 January-13 May 2012
Denver, Denver Art Museum, Pierre Bonnard : early and late, 1 March-1 May 2003
Washington, Phillips Collection, The, Pierre Bonnard : early and late, 22 September 2002-19 January 2003, no. 37
Denver, Denver Art Museum, Pierre Bonnard : early and late, no. 37
Winterthur, Villa Flora, Die Nabis und das moderne Paris aus der Sammlung Arthur und Hedy Hahnloser-Bühler und aus Schweizer Museums und Privatbesitz, 4 May-1 September 2001, no. 16
Paris, Hôtel de Ville de Paris, Paris sous le ciel de peinture, 14 September-17 December 2000, no. onbekend
New York, Albert Loeb & Krugier Gallery, Les Nabis, 21 May-June 1969, no. 29b
Rotterdam, Museum Boymans, Bonnard, 1953, no. 8
London, Roland, Browse and Delbanco, Bonnard, June 1950, no. 11
Zurich, Kunsthaus Zürich, Pierre Bonnard 1867-1947, 6 June-24 July 1949, no. 6
Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, Exhibition of Paintings by Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, 17 August-18 September 1948, no. 5
London, Adams Gallery, French paintings, 4 May-4 June 1948, no. onbekend
London, The Lefevre Gallery, Bonnard and his French Contemporaries, June-July 1947, no. 5
London, The Lefevre Gallery, 20th Century French Paintings, 1943, no. 3
Ebbinge Wubben, J.C., Bonnard, 1953, [unpaged]
