Vase with Flowers
Pierre Bonnard
PIERRE BONNARD, 1920. OIL ON CANVAS.
Art was Pierre Bonnard’s only option. After failing his entry examination to practice law, he fell in with a group of disparate but commonly ambitious young artists who soon became known as the Nabis. They were unified by a common idea – that a work of art was not about a depiction of nature but rather a synthesis of metaphors and symbols into a unified aesthetic work. Their name derived from the Hebrew term for prophet, as this group of radical young creatives were, even in their contemporary age, ushering in a new way of understanding. Bonnard was the greatest of the Nabis, a prophet among prophets who unified a love of Japanese art, graphic illustration and Gaugin’s paintings into works of decadent, detailed, simple beauty.