Bonnard's Paradise: Le Cannet
Discover the landscapes and light that inspired the master's late-career masterpieces in the South of France
Vue musée Bonnard de profil by Musée BonnardMusée Bonnard
When Pierre Bonnard settled in Le Cannet in 1922, he couldn't have imagined that eighty-five years later, a museum would be dedicated to him in the town where he chose to spend the last years of his life and be buried alongside Marthe.
Paysage du Cannet by Pierre BonnardMusée Bonnard
Pierre Bonnard discovered the Mediterranean South in 1904, thanks to an invitation from his friend Édouard Vuillard, as well as through Paul Signac, who had drawn a significant community of artists to Saint-Tropez.
Le Cannet by AnonymeMusée Bonnard
He never stopped traveling back and forth between Normandy and the South, noting the daily weather day after day. In Le Cannet, Bonnard would take a daily walk around the Bosquet area, which was then surrounded by preserved hills.
Panorama from le Bosquet by Musée BonnardMusée Bonnard
This motif of the small house on the edge of a path is often repeated by Bonnard in his paintings, blending a colorful joy with an underlying melancholy.
Le Bosquet
Le Bosquet, which he acquired in 1926, became his paradise. He painted over 300 canvases of his marvelous garden and the interior of his home. His works created in Le Cannet show a pictorial expression increasingly detached from reality, combining colors and light.
Southern landscape in mistral weather (1922) by Pierre BonnardMusée Bonnard
"All my subjects are close at hand. I go to see them. I take notes. And then I go home. And then, before painting, I think, I dream." The painter particularly appreciated the lush and wild nature, shaped as little as possible by the hand of man.
View of Le Cannet (1925) by Pierre BonnardMusée Bonnard
View of Le Cannet, 1925
In the exceptional Vue du Cannet (View of Le Cannet), 1925, the painter enjoyed contrasting the colors he remembered thanks to his many sketches. These houses tumbling down the hillside allowed him to modulate his colors according to the effects of the light.
Bonnard experiments here, with unmatched virtuosity, with all the subtleties of reds, violets, and blues, while reducing their contrast thanks to the transparency of the whites.
One can imagine Bonnard painting this vast composition, which functions like an open window in his small Le Cannet studio. The vegetal framing of palm fronds in rich blue and green tones borders the maze of houses with the region's typical tile roofs.
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