The Breakfast Room
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Painting the quiet spaces and familiar routines of his household, Pierre Bonnard was interested in translating the experience of “what one sees when one enters a room all of a sudden.” He achieved this not by working directly in front of his motif, but from memory, reimagining—often through a lens of longing or nostalgia—his initial perception of the scene’s colors, shapes, and textures. Although Bonnard was long misunderstood as a “painter of happiness” because of his intimate, domestic subjects and bright palette, some of his paintings, including this one, actually reveal themselves to be much more ambiguous portrayals of detachment and solitude.
Caption
Pierre Bonnard French, 1867–1947. The Breakfast Room, ca. 1925. Oil on canvas, 25 3/4 x 42 1/2 in. (65.4 x 108 cm) Frame: 33 1/2 x 50 1/2 x 4 in. (85.1 x 128.3 x 10.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund, Carll H. de Silver Fund, and A. Augustus Healy Fund, 43.202. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 43.202_PS11.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
The Breakfast Room
Date
ca. 1925
Geography
Place made: France
Medium
Oil on canvas
Classification
Dimensions
25 3/4 x 42 1/2 in. (65.4 x 108 cm) Frame: 33 1/2 x 50 1/2 x 4 in. (85.1 x 128.3 x 10.2 cm)
Signatures
Signed lower right: "Bonnard"
Credit Line
Frank L. Babbott Fund, Carll H. de Silver Fund, and A. Augustus Healy Fund
Accession Number
43.202
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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