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The Breakfast Room

Pierre Bonnard

European Art

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.
MEDIUM Oil on canvas
  • Place Made: France
  • DATES ca. 1925
    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)  (show scale)
    SIGNATURE Signed lower right: "Bonnard"
    COLLECTIONS European Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 43.202
    CREDIT LINE Frank L. Babbott Fund, Carll H. de Silver Fund, and A. Augustus Healy Fund
    PROVENANCE Prior provenance not yet documented; before 1933, reportedly purchased from the artist by Jos Hessel of Paris, France; before 1933, sold at Valentine Gallery of Modern Art, New York, NY; by June 1, 1933, acquired by Frank Crowninshield of New York; October 20-21, 1943, purchased at Parke-Bernet, New York, Crowninshield sale no. 84 by M. Knoedler and Company for the Brooklyn Museum.
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    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    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). 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)
    IMAGE overall, 43.202_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2022
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