I managed to catch this Bonnard show in the last couple of weeks at Tate Modern and am glad I did.
It wasn’t the popular paintings that intrigued me the most but the self portraits which contrasted so much with the “happy” idyllic image of his work historically depicted in the media.
The Boxer, from 1931 when he was already famous and respected, shows him in a combative yet almost helpless pose with no impression of confidence.
This self-portrait, from 1939, shows him worried and anxious – perhaps at the prospect of another war?
The self portait below was painted in 1945 after the death of Marthe, his life-partner of 30 years in 1942, and 2 years before his own death.
These are an important counterpoint for me to the landscapes and domestic scenes he is so famous for, revealing him through painting to be more complex and vulnerable than I had previously thought.
