The Lessons

Artist Pierre Bonnard French, 1867–1947

Date1898

MediumOil on board

Dimensions20 1/4 x 13 1/4 in. (51.4 x 33.7 cm)
Frame: 29 1/4 x 22 1/4 in. (74.3 x 56.5 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the State of North Carolina

Object number72.1.3

On View

Not on view

ProvenanceCreated Paris, 1898; collection of the artist; Brosset collection, Paris. [Arthur Tooth & Sons, London]. Norton Simon (1907–1993), Los Angeles, by 1964; [his sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, May 5, 1971, no. 60]; [Olivier Bernier, Inc., New York]; sold to NCMA, 1972.

Published ReferencesFrançois Joachim Beer, Pierre Bonnard (Marseilles, 1947), illus. pl. 52.

F. Jedlicka, Pierre Bonnard Ein Besuch (Erlenbach-Zurich, 1949), illus. between 48-49.

T. Natanson, Tentatives: le Bonnard que je propose, 1867-1947 (Geneva, 1951), illus. pl. 19.

Denys Sutton, ed., Bonnard (London: Royal Academy of Art, 1957).

Bonnard and His Environment (exhibition catalogue) (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1964), cat. no. 10, illus. (color).

James R. Mellow, "Bonnard," Arts Magazine (November 1964), 40, illus. (color).

"Bonnard Work Displayed in New Exhibition," North Carolina Museum of Art Calendar of Art Events 15, no. 10 (August-September 1972), discussed and illus. (b-w) unnumbered pages.

North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 12, nos. 1 and 2 (December 1973), briefly discussed 21, listed 40, illus. (b-w) 22 and (color) cover.

Peter Selz, Art in Our Times, A Pictorial History, 1890-1980 (New York: Abrams, 1981), illus. 48, fig. 97.

Edgar Peters Bowron, ed., Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill: published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (color) 21.

Nathan Goldstein, Design and Composition (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, a Division of Simon and Schuster, 1989), 234, illus.

Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus (b-w) 145.

Otto G. Ocvirk, et al, Art Fundamentals: Theory & Practice, 7th ed. (Madison, WI: WCB Brown & Benchmark Publishers, 1994), illus. (color) 253, fig. 10·22.

Bernard Hoffert, James Wingate, Henk Bak and Adelina Modesti, Art in Diversity, 2nd ed. (Melbourne: Longman, 1995), 69, illus. (color) p. 71.

"Renovated European Galleries," in North Carolina Museum of Art supplement to the Durham Herald-Sun (October 2002), mentioned and illus. (color) 3.

George T. M. Shackelford and Elsa Smithgall, et al, Bonnard's Worlds (exhibition catalogue) (Fort Worth, TX and Washington, DC: Kimbell Art Museum and The Phillips Collection, 2023), 159-161 (illus color), cat. no. 34.Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, Museum of Modern Art, “Bonnard and His Environment,” October 7-November 29, 1964; Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, January 8-February 28, 1965; Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum, March 31- May 30, 1965, cat. no. 10, illus. (color).

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “Recent Acquisitions and Loans,” January 16-October 1, 1972.

Richmond, VA, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, “Masterpieces from the NCMA,” March 11-April 13, 1975

Charlotte, NC, Charlotte Campaign Fund Benefit, November 30, 1978.

New York, NY, Wildenstein & Co., Inc, “The Inquiring Eye of Pierre Bonnard,” November 6-December 11, 1981.

Fort Worth, TX, Kimbell Art Museum, "Bonnard's Worlds," November 5, 2023–January 28, 2024; Washington, DC, The Phillips Collections, March 2–June 2, 2024. (cat. no. 34) Object Rights Statement

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