The Breakfast
Pierre Bonnard
French, 1867–1947

Details
Title
The Breakfast
Artist/Maker
Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867–1947)
Date
1922
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
16 1/2 x 20 inches
Credit
Purchase with funds from Alfred Austell Thornton in memory of Leila Austell Thornton and Albert Edward Thornton, Sr., and Sarah Miller Venable and William Hoyt Venable
Accession #
2007.124
During the late 1800s, Pierre Bonnard was a leading member of the Nabis, a brotherhood of Post-Impressionist artists that also included Édouard Vuillard. The Nabis rejected academic naturalism in favor of heavy outlines and an expressionistic application of color in their paintings. While the Nabis were no longer working together as a group when Bonnard painted The Breakfast, the decorative patterning, flattened perspective, and rich coloration of his earlier practice remain evident.