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A painting of a bowl of fruit on a white table.

The painting shows a rectangular dish filled with apples and grapes. On the front of the dish is an inverted V-shape in red with a small black and brown object next to it. Next to the dish are two white egg-shaped objects. The dish is on a white surface with a patch of light blue to the upper right. The edge of a plate is visible at the right edge of the picture. Behind the table are four framed pictures on the wall in the upper right corner. In front of the pictures is a surface with a vase.

Gallery Text

Bonnard was a founding member of the Nabis (“prophets” in Hebrew and Arabic), an association of late nineteenth-century artists whose heavily symbolic work aimed to reinvigorate artistic traditions. By the 1920s, however, his art had become increasingly abstract, focusing on plays of color and texture, rather than on the realistic depiction of objects. Here, the vibrant reds, greens, and yellows of the fruits contrast with the dominant purple and turquoise jewel tones of the indistinct interior space. Although the cropping of the image may seem random or spontaneous, Bonnard tightly controlled such decisions through his working method. He would tack long rolls of canvas to his studio wall and map out several compositions at once, working on all of them and adjusting their dimensions as he painted. Wertheim acquired this work in 1950; it was the last piece he added to his collection before his death.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1951.69
People
Pierre Bonnard, French (Fontenay-aux-Roses, France 1867 - 1947 Cannet, France)
Title
Interior with Still Life of Fruit
Other Titles
Original Language Title: Nature Morte au Panier de Fruits
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1923
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/228825

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1220, European Art, 19th–20th century, Collection of Maurice Wertheim, Class of 1906
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
43.7 x 65 cm (17 3/16 x 25 9/16 in.)
framed: 66.5 x 88 x 9 cm (26 3/16 x 34 5/8 x 3 9/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.r.: Bonnard
  • stamp: On stretcher, stenciled in black ink: 15M
  • inscription: On stretcher, handwritten in red crayon: de P[or L?]eche

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Pierre Bonnard, 1923, [Bernheim-Jeune, Paris] sold; to Henri Canonne. [Paul Rosenberg and Company, Paris] (before 1940-1950) sold to Maurice Wertheim, 1950, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1951.

Notes:
The painting was confiscated in France by the ERR during the German occupation, and was returned to Paul Rosenberg at the end of the war.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest from the Collection of Maurice Wertheim, Class of 1906
Copyright
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Accession Year
1951
Object Number
1951.69
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK HAS SIGNIFICANT LOAN RESTRICTIONS BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Publication History

  • Parisje Schilders, exh. cat., Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1939), no. 10
  • Les chefs-d'oeuvre des collections privées françaises retrouvés en Allemagne par la Commission de récupération et les Services alliés, exh. cat., Orangerie (Paris, France, 1946), no.51
  • The Maurice Wertheim Catalogue: Modern French Art-- Monet to Picasso, exh. cat., North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh, NC, 1960), p. 4, repr. p. 5
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection: Manet to Picasso, exh. cat., The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Houston, TX, 1962), p. 11
  • Jean Dauberville and Henry Dauberville, Bonnard: Catalogue Raisonné de L'Oeuvre Peint, Editions Bernheim-Jeune (Paris, France, 1966 - 1973), vol. III, p. 173, no. 1203, repr. in b/w
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, exh. cat., Maine State Museum (Augusta, ME, 1972), repr. pl. 1
  • John O'Brian, Degas to Matisse: the Maurice Wertheim Collection, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. and Fogg Art Museum (New York, NY and Cambridge, MA, 1988), no. 35, pp. 126-127, 159; repr. in color p. 127
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection and Selected Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings and Drawings in the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1990), repr. in color no. 23, p. 77
  • Elizabeth M. Rudy, "Researching the Wertheim Collection at the Harvard Art Museums", Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals (Summer 2014), Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 301-6, p. 303

Exhibition History

  • Parisje Schilders, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 02/25/1939 - 04/10/1939
  • Les chefs-d'oeuvres des collections privées françaises rétrouvés en Allemagne, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 06/01/1946 - 08/31/1946
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 07/01/1952 - 09/14/1952
  • French Paintings Since 1870 from the Maurice Wertheim Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 06/01/1953 - 09/30/1953
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 06/15/1957 - 09/15/1957
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 06/10/1958 - 08/31/1958
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection: Modern French Art--Monet to Picasso, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, 06/17/1960 - 09/04/1960
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection: Manet to Picasso, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, 06/13/1962 - 09/02/1962
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 06/20/1963 - 09/01/1963
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, 06/24/1965 - 09/07/1965
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, 09/03/1968 - 09/22/1968
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, 06/01/1971 - 09/30/1971
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Maine State Museum, Augusta, 06/01/1972 - 09/01/1972
  • Manet to Matisse: The Maurice Wertheim Collection, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, New York, 04/09/1985 - 05/25/1985
  • The Maurice Wertheim Collection and Selected Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings and Drawings in the Fogg Art Museum, Isetan Department Store, Tokyo, 03/01/1990 - 04/10/1990; Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, 04/14/1990 - 05/13/1990
  • Re-View: S427 Impressionist & Postimpressionist Art, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/02/2008 - 06/18/2011
  • 32Q: 1220 Wertheim, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu