Parallel Meanings

 

(Left) Pierre Bonnard, Marthe nude, seated on the bed with her back turned, 1899-1900. Sepia-toned gelatin silver print, 1 1/2 x 2 in. Musée d'Orsay, Paris. Gift of the children of Charles Terrasse, 1992. (Right) Pierre Bonnard, "Eté" (Summer), illustration from Parrallèlement by Verlaine, 1900. Lithograph with rose-sanguine ink, 11 5/8 x 9 5/8 in. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)

Snapshot: Painters and Photography, Bonnard to Vuillard, features photographs by Pierre Bonnard which served as prompts for book illustrations for Parallèlement, a book of erotic verse by Paul Verlaine published by Ambroise Vollard. As Françoise Heilbrun points out in the catalogue that accompanies the exhibition, the pink pencil outline imparts the female body with a kind of “feverish sensuality” that is in keeping with the poems. Surprisingly, the French censors at the Imprimerie Nationale agreed to do the printing, mistakenly thinking that Parallèment was a book on geometry! Using the character of Ubu, a tubby symbol of the French state, Bonnard and his friend, the avant-garde playwright Alfred Jarry, mocked the censors’ initial misunderstanding and their belated awareness of the true nature of the project.

Ubu observes a painting of geometric lines, only to be bowled over upon deciphering what he is really looking at. (Left) Cartoon on page 22 of Alfred Jarry, Almanach illustré du Père Ubu, 1901. Lithograph, page 200 x 285 mm. France, private collection. (Right) Cartoon on page 23 of Alfred Jarry, Almanach illustré du Père Ubu, 1901. Lithograph, page 200 x 285 mm. France, private collection.

 

Phillips Petting Zoo: Pierre Bonnard

Installation view of two works by Pierre Bonnard in the Snapshot exhibition, both in the permanent collection at The Phillips Collection. At left is Dogs, 1893. Lithograph on Paper, 15 x 11 in. At right is Woman with Dog, 1922. Oil on canvas, 27 1/4 x 15 3/8 in. Photo: Joshua Navarro

When I entered Snapshot, the pairing of Bonnard’s painting Woman with Dog (above right) with his lithograph Dogs (above left) delighted me. By my count, the exhibition features five works in which Bonnard includes canines, and I love how each picture captures dogs doing what dogs do—begging, cuddling, running, playing, etc.

Look more closely at Dogs. Did you notice how the fluffy dog in the mid-ground is sniffing the rear of the pup he’s next to? Behind them, Bonnard includes three pooches in play bows as they get acquainted before galloping off. Do you see the black smears throughout the composition? Funny how they resemble paw prints, as though the pups ran across the surface of the composition. Continue reading

Vuillard’s Beautiful Vista from Paper and Hide Glue

Edouard Vuillard, Place Vintimille, 1911. Five-panel screen, distemper on paper laid down on canvas, 90 9/16 x 23 5/8 inches (each panel). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Gift of Enid A. Haupt

One of the beautiful works in our current Snapshot exhibition is a 5 panel screen, 7 feet by 10 feet, painted in distemper on cardboard, Place Vintimille by Edouard Vuillard (1911).

Distemper in this case is not the viral disease of cats and dogs but a water-based paint, consisting of pigment, whiting, and hide glue. A simple recipe can be found online.

Distemper is a decorative rather than traditional artist’s material, used where permanence is not important.Vuillard probably became familiar and proficient in its use when he worked in theaters painting scenery. It’s cheap, easy to make, and dries fast. Because it uses hide glue as a binder and a pot of it will set up like gelatin, distemper is applied warm. Like gouache, it dries several shades lighter than applied.

Cardboard was a favorite material for Vuillard, since it was so affordable and absorbent. In combination with the matte distemper, he used it to emphasize the flat decorative qualities of his painting. Brown cardboard also acted as a unifying ground for his painting.

Vuillard’s Place Vintimille is an impressive example of a remarkable artist using ordinary materials, the equivalent of shirt cardboard and poster paints.

Ianthe Gergel, Museum Assistant

This post was originally titled “Distemper: No Animals Were Harmed in the Making of this Screen”, which a reader informed us was clearly erroneous as the hide glue used in distemper certainly implies the demise of the owner of said hide. -ed.