Pierre Bonnard, Self-Portrait

Pierre Bonnard was a leading figure in the transition from Impressionism to Modernism. Across his rich and varied oeuvre, he returned frequently to self-portraits, of which this 1939 example is a key late work. In its depiction of an intimate and enclosed world, the painting creates a powerful emotional impact, standing as one of the most sensitive and deeply affecting self-portraits of its time. This volume contains newly commissioned essays by Isabelle Cahn of the Musée d’Orsay, who curated the exhibition Pierre Bonnard: Designed by India Mahdavi, a collaboration between the Musée d’Orsay and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne in 2023, and Sarah Whitfield, who in 1998 organised a major retrospective of Pierre Bonnard at London’s Tate Gallery and the New York Museum of Modern Art, featuring loans from numerous public and private collections.