Bonnard - The big bathtub

Pierre Bonnard, born in Fontenay-aux-Roses, painter of figures, animated landscapes, interiors and still lifes, was also an engraver and illustrator. A post-impressionist artist, he was part of the Nabis group. He gradually found a very personal path, where he used light and luminous color palettes, all supported by a very sure sense of composition and drawing. "Nude in the Bath" and "The Large Bathtub" are two of the five variations of Marthe in the Bathtub, the heroine of his most sensual paintings. In these compositions, reflective surfaces (water, wet skin, tiles and the reflection of the window) are multiplied, punctuated by vertical and horizontal planes. The painter used a sunny yellow next to the colder blues and violet which produce this impression of the body dissolving in the light.