Pierre Bonnard and The Red Garters

'The Red Garters' (c.1905) by Pierre Bonnard; Private Collection

There are many other paintings that I could have chosen by French artist Pierre Bonnard, born on 3 October 1867, because I like his paintings and his use of colour. He studied both law and art but decided to pursue a career in painting. He met Édouard Vuillard (who became his lifelong friend) and Maurice Denis and formed the group Les Nabis with them, a group of Post-Impressionist avant-garde artists who became influential in the field of graphic art. Bonnard's wife Maria Boursin, known as Marthe de Méligny and with whom he had lived thirty years before marrying her in 1925, was a working-class laundry girl and his model in many of his paintings. I guess she must be the model for the numerous paintings that I love of a nude woman standing in front of a mirror (here) or taking a siesta (here) or bathing (here). In fact, I just read in this very nice Dutch article online that Marthe appears in 384 of his paintings so I can be sure that she is the one in the three paintings that I've given you the link to. Ánd the model for today's painting as well. I love this depiction of a woman in garters and the beautiful colours, but like I said, I like many of his paintings and also his still lifes. To select a few, click here, or here, or here.