On the Street, Two Figures by Pierre Bonnard

On the Street, Two Figures - Pierre Bonnard - Hand Painted Oil Painting

Product Overview

On the Street, Two Figures - Pierre Bonnard - Hand Painted Oil Painting is part of our hand painted oil painting collection from the Pierre Bonnard Paintings selection. Each canvas is worked by a trained artist, then inspected before dispatch — a practical route to owning post-impressionist wall decor at a fraction of gallery pricing.

About the Artwork

DANS LA RUE, DEUX FIGURES
circa 1906
Oil on panel
Private Collection, London.

Bonnard's earliest depictions of Parisian streets date from the 1890s, and in 1895 the artist produced an album of lithographs on the theme of the city and its inhabitants, titled Quelques aspects de la vie de Paris. The spectacle of urban modernity provided a colourful source of inspiration, and the artist was fascinated by the variety of subjects it offered, including street sellers, elegant bourgeois ladies, old-fashioned and modern modes of transport, and urban architecture. Returning to this subject throughout his career, Bonnard's city scenes reflect a certain joie de vivre achieved through the use of bright tones and a strong sense of energy and movement. In the early years of the twentieth century, Bonnard divided his time between his Paris studio and the countryside in Normandy, where he usually spent the summers, and his art became increasingly polarized between the passing show of urban life, and the intimacy and stillness of the Normandy interiors.

Painted circa 1906, Dans la rue, deux figures depicts two figures set against the backdrop of a busy Parisian street scene. People, whether the central element or a smaller part of the composition, were what drove Bonnard's work. While he was drawn more and more to life in the countryside, he returned to the city for its busy streets and urban scenes of everyday life. Nicholas Watkins discusses this pull towards the city, arguing that 'it was the human dimension that brought him back to the city [...] He placed emphasis on people, not architecture. In his view of the city's inhabitants, he adopted the Olympian detachment of a benign flaneur, leisurely enjoying the spectacle of their comings and goings [...] Dramatic close-ups are employed to feature the people passing in the foreground, but there is not drama [...] The drama lies in the general perception of the heroism of modern life' (Nicholas Watkins, Bonnard, London, 1994, p. 93).

Bonnard shared his fascination with the city with a number of Impressionist and post-Impressionist artists, and in choosing this subject matter he drew on the Modern tradition of depicting the busy streets and cafés of the French capital. Gustave Caillebotte, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro all executed a number of works depicting Parisian boulevards, squares and bridges, usually characterised by a sense of rich and varied life of the city. Gustave Geffroy commented that 'no-one is quicker than Bonnard to seize the look of our Parisian streets, the silhouettes of a passer-by and the patch of color which stands out in the Metropolitan mist. [He] seizes on all the momentary phenomena of the street, even the most fugitive glances are caught and set down' (Gustave Geffroy, in Pierre Bonnard (exhibition catalogue), Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1996, p. 16).

Every hand painted oil painting in this figurative series is finished on artist-grade canvas and checked against the original before it leaves the studio.

Materials & Craftsmanship

This is a genuine hand painted oil painting, not a canvas print. Our painters match the palette of On the Street, Two Figures by eye and build up the figurative forms in thin layers, which is what gives the finished portrait oil painting its luminosity.

What Is Included

• A true oil-on-canvas painting produced manually by our artists — not a mass-produced print.
• Comes with a 2-inch unpainted margin on every side, ready for stretcher bars or a frame.
• Direct-from-studio worldwide delivery with no third-party resellers.
• Quick turnaround — most in-stock figurative paintings ship in 3–10 working days.
• Available canvas sizes for this hand painted oil painting: 20 X 24 in, 24 X 36 in, 30 X 40 in, 36 X 48 in, 48 X 72 in.
• Custom sizes available: order this painting in your preferred dimensions.
• We work with DHL, UPS, FedEx, USPS and additional couriers to keep delivery affordable.
• Complimentary stretching over wooden stretcher bars; ask us about a custom frame.
• You will receive a photo of your completed painting by email for sign-off prior to shipping.

Where to Hang It

Hang this portrait oil painting above a sofa, console, or bed to give a hallway an instant focal point. Its post-impressionist palette works with both minimalist and period interiors, and the piece also makes a considered gift for housewarmings, weddings, and art lovers.

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