Salon du dessin 2023
22-27 March – Stand 8
On our stand at the Salon du Dessin, which runs from March 22 to 27, we are showing some forty works on paper by 19 artists, from Pierre BONNARD to Geer van VELDE.
Here are four masterpieces from our selection, by Paul SIGNAC, Jean BONNARD, Jean HÉLION and Maurice ESTÈVE :
Paul SIGNAC (1863-1935)
Saint-Tropez. Le port.
Circa 1899
Watercolor on paper
11 x 16,2 cm
Signed lower left and initials lower right
Pierre BONNARD (1867-1947)
Marthe à la toilette
Circa 1910
Marthe is represented here, naked, in the bathroom of “La Roulotte”, the modest house which became Pierre and Marthe’s new home in Vernonnet.
A bathroom was a great luxury in those days, but was deemed essential for Marthe and a source of great inspiration for the artist.
Bonnard furtively watches Marthe, like an unseen spectator, he plays with her reflection in the mirror. The light, the highlights on her skin, the suggested motion of the arms accentuate a sense of intimacy and modesty.
Graphite on paper
37 x 28 cm
Signed lower right
Pierre Bonnard is now a major painter, long overshadowed by others because of his taste for discretion. He led a quiet life, without trying to put himself forward. Pierre Bonnard lived in Vernon from 1912 to 1928, on the right bank of the Seine, in the hamlet of “Ma Campagne”.
Born in 1867 in Fontenay-aux-Roses, near Paris, he knew his neighbor Claude Monet, 27 years older. Although they had different views on art, the two men valued each other and visited each other.
It was in 1912 that Pierre Bonnard, a regular visitor to the Seine Valley, discovered Vernonnet. He decided to buy “Ma Roulotte”, a small half-timbered house with a wooden balcony offering a breathtaking view of the river. With his companion Marthe, they like to go for a boat ride between the islands.
Jean HÉLION (1904 – 1987)
Composition
1934
Watercolor on paper
22 x 30,5 cm
Signed, situated and dated lower left
Maurice ESTEVE (1904-2001)
Composition
1989
Watercolor on paper
55 x 43,5 cm
Signed and dated lower right
Salon du dessin 2023
22-27 March 2023
Stand 8
See the Salon du dessin website
