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.