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A chair and a table set with a bottle, fruit, and dishes sit on a grassy lawn under a tall tree in this horizontal painting. The scene is loosely painted with vibrantly colored, visible brushstrokes, creating the impression of dappled sunlight filtering through the tree’s canopy. Situated near the lower right corner, the table takes up most of the bottom half of the composition. Its wooden legs are cut off by the bottom edge of the painting. The tablecloth is cream white where it hangs off the sides, and turns ice blue in the shade, on the tabletop. Carnation-pink bands make a loose, plaid-like pattern. The table is set with a tall, sea-green bottle, round fruit in shades of amber brown and turquoise, and two teacups – one cobalt blue and the other cranberry red. Other loosely painted forms could be more dishes or foodstuff. One cane-backed, rust-red chair sits at the far end of the table. The lawn under and around the table is painted with strokes of pale pink, sky blue, and shamrock green. To our right, beyond the table, the sage-green tree trunk grows up and off the top edge of the painting. The upper half of the composition, from the bottom right corner to the top left, is filled with loosely painted, zigzagging strokes of moss, sage, lemon-lime, and pine-green strokes. The artist’s name appears in olive-green letters in the lower right corner, “Bonnard.”

Pierre Bonnard

Table Set in a Garden, c. 1908

Not on View

Medium

oil on paper on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 49.5 x 64.7 cm (19 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.)

framed: 75.6 x 91.1 x 12.1 cm (29 3/4 x 35 7/8 x 4 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

Accession Number

1970.17.8

Artists / Makers

Pierre Bonnard (artist) French, 1867 - 1947

Image Use

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Inscription

lower right with atelier stamp: Bonnard

Provenance

The artist [1867-1947]; by inheritance to Bonnard-Terrasse family, Paris. (Wildenstein & Co., New York); sold 21 May 1969 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York; gift 1970 to NGA.[1]

[1]Provenance according to invoice from Wildenstein dated 21 May 1969, in NGA curatorial records.

Associated Names

Bonnard-Terrasse family
Bruce, Ailsa Mellon, Mrs.
Wildenstein & Co., Inc.

Exhibition History

1986: Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 1986, no. 2, repro.

1999: Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat.

1999: Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 67, repro.

2010: Pierre Bonnard - Magier der Farbe, Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, 2010-2011, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2013: Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016.

Bibliography

1966: Dauberville, Jean, and Henry Dauberville. Bonnard, Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. 4 vols. Paris, 1966-1974: no. 1934, repro.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 34, repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 53, repro.