Signac and His Friends in the Sailing Boat
Pierre Bonnard
PIERRE BONNARD, c.1924. OIL ON CANVAS.
Pierre Bonnard was a member of Les Nabis, an avant-garde, post-impressionist group of radical artists joined by a belief that art was not intended to represent nature but was instead a synthesis of symbols and metaphors of the artists ideas. His paintings were cosmopolitan, depicting urban life and intimate domestic scenes, and the forays into landscapes were static and devoid of human presence. Paul Signac, on the other hand, was a Pointillist who, together with Georges Seurat, created the new style of painting and used it to depict scenes of rural and Mediterranean life, alive with joyous, relaxed civilisation. So it should come as no surprise then, that this somewhat anomalous work in Bonnard’s career features at its centre a depiction of his friend from across the aisle, Signac. It is not just a literal depiction of him, surrounded by his friends helming a sailing boat, but Bonnard takes its further and paints like Signac, not in style but in content and feel. The work is alive, jubilant and reverent of nature – the philosophy of a companion translated through his personal lens.