The Almond Tree in Blossom (circa 1930) by Pierre BonnardMusée Bonnard
"It’s stronger than me; every spring, it forces me to paint it." – Pierre Bonnard to Marguerite Maeght
L'Amandier en fleurs holds a very particular significance in the work of Pierre Bonnard. This oil on canvas, painted around 1930, depicts his almond tree in bloom, a subject the artist would return to just before his death in 1947.
Bonnard, who was living in Le Cannet in the Alpes-Maritimes at the time, was fascinated by this tree planted in his garden. He painted it multiple times, feeling a deep sense of harmony with nature.
The almond tree, visible from his bedroom window, became for him a symbol of life's rebirth every spring.
Only three almond trees are referenced between 1930 and 1947 in the catalogue raisonné of Bonnard's work, including the one at the Bonnard Museum, acquired in 2014.
This work from Bonnard's later period, where color asserts itself with increasing power, is characteristic of his art.
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