ART & ARTISTS: Pierre Bonnard

Friday, 29 July 2011

Pierre Bonnard - part 3

Self-portrait c1945 oil on canvas

This is the third of a four-part post on the works of French artist Pierre Bonnard. For biographical notes and paintings, see parts 1 and 2 also.

A major figure of the Nabis movement, Pierre Bonnard (1867 - 1947) first gained fame for his lithographs and posters in the early 1890s, serving as inspiration for Toulouse-Lautrec, among others.
Far from academic considerations, and drawing on the clarity of Japanese prints (whence his nickname "Bonnard le Japonard"), his graphic style was spare and casual, characterised by bold design layouts, using refined tonal values and textures to evoke the bustle of urban life or the warm intimacy of an interior.

Stone lithography was invented in 1798, and it was the first new printmaking technique to emerge in about 300 years. Stone lithography became very popular as a medium by the 1830s. People used stone lithography to create colour art for books, as well as for more pedestrian things like labels, flyers and posters.

Stone lithography's popularity with artists came about because it was the first printmaking medium to allow the artist to naturally "paint" or "draw" onto a flat stone to create an image. The artist creates the work directly and naturally.

The artist draws/paints on the stone with a greasy substance. For example, a litho crayon is a soft waxy/greasy crayon. There are also litho paints and pencils. The stone picks up this greasy substance and holds it.
The stone is moistened with water. The parts of the stone not protected by the greasy paint soak up the water.
Oil-based ink is rolled onto the stone. The greasy parts of the stone pick up the ink, while the wet parts do not.
A piece of paper is pressed onto the stone, and the ink transfers from the stone to the paper.