Bonnard was not much interested in competing with or following the schools of thought of his contemporary painters. He was a loner who followed his own rather exceptional path as he followed his passion - painting. For instance, he desired to detach himself from the school of Impressionism prominent at the time. He criticized the Impressionists and what he considered to be their lack of depth and poetry. His work may have been influenced by the Impressionists, but he never considered himself one of them. And he wholly ignored Cubism when it became popular. He remained faithful to his unique form of sentimental painting.
He and his friends Paul Ranson, Paul Sérusier, Henri-Gabriel Ibels, Maurice Denis, Edouard Vuillard, Ker-Xavier Roussel, René Piot, Aristide Maillol, Georges Lacombe, and Félix Vallotton formed the group called the Nabis (from the Hebrew word for prophet). Their intent in painting was to emphasize the purely decorative by simplifying colors, flattening form, using strong boundaries, and denying volume. The Nabi way used a quiet palette, tight and intimate framing, and detailed composition. They were careful above all to keep to familiar scenes, and to evoke a feeling or a mood.
Undoubtedly Bonnard felt the influence of the Japonisme movement that was sweeping Paris. He attended a show of Japanese woodblock prints and became utterly fascinated. These prints made unusual use of space and perspective, zeroing in on a tabletop, or filling the forefront with the side of a woman’s face, or showing a woman with her back turned toward the viewer. The influence is evident in Bonnard’s work. Art Nouveau was another influence on his painting style, as he occasionally mimicked its long panels, sensual lines, and acid manner.
Ultimately Pierre Bonnard originated the artistic school known as Intimism. Dedicating himself to scenes of urban life and of intimacy, he produced magnificent paintings, delights of color and patterning. His subject matter was private life, its coziness and order, its subtelties, its moments of deep-rooted habit and comfort, its fragile intimacy. His paintings features spontaneity, capturing the passage of a moment that will soon be gone forever. A dear friend stated, “He is a painter of the effervescence of pleasure and the disappearance of pleasure."
During his association with the Nabis, Bonnard created posters, produced numerous sets of lithographic prints, designed furniture and stained glass, and, of course, painted. He created many illustrations for books, magazines, ads, and various publications. In 1899 he illustrated Aspects of the Life of Paris (Quelques aspects de la vie de Paris). In 1900 he produced prints for Verlaine’s Parallelement. 1902 saw the production of his illustrations for Longus’ Antique Tale of Daphnis and Chloe. He illustrated Danish novelist Peter Nansen’s Marie, Jules Renard’s Histoires Naturelles, Petites Scenes familieres pour piano, and covers for sheet music published by Mercure de France for songs for marionette plays. His prints were added to the somewhat irreverent journals and reviews of the day such as La Vie Moderne, Almanachs du Pere Ubu, and Escarmouche. Bonnard’s absolutely delightful drawing for the cover of La Revue Blanche (the most independent of literary reviews) is now considered “a masterpiece of Parisian elegance and poetry.”
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