Bonnard : Mirrors, photographic effects, alluring views through windows, and - of course - nudes*

Responses, by Tweet, to and during a visit to Pierre Bonnard : The Colour of Memory

More views of - or before - Cambridge Film Festival 2019 (17 to 24 October)
(Click here to go directly to the Festival web-site)

3 May

Responses, by Tweet, to and during a visit to the [C C Land] exhibition Pierre Bonnard : The Colour of Memory on Friday 3 May 2019

By Room 4 at @Tate Modern, it is clear enough that #Bonnard :

* Couldn't depict a human face to save his life

* Can perfectly render a wash-stand

* Liked photographic effects such as mirror-shots or shaded extremes

— THE AGENT APSLEY #ScrapUniversalCredit #JC4PM2019 (@THEAGENTAPSLEY) May 3, 2019

* In Room 7, gives us one of these moody looks, in Paysage du Midi (1920-1921) as if the light fairy has dulled almost everything

* Loves a seducing exterior, seen through a window - breaking rules of photography

— THE AGENT APSLEY #ScrapUniversalCredit #JC4PM2019 (@THEAGENTAPSLEY) May 3, 2019

* Resolved around nudes, water, tables (especially laden with food) and table-cloths, distant views, mirrors - maybe as with Magritte's stock elements ?

* In Femme nue se baissant (1923) and famous Baignoire (Le Bain) (1925) occludes the face

— THE AGENT APSLEY #ScrapUniversalCredit #JC4PM2019 (@THEAGENTAPSLEY) May 3, 2019

This is probably the best of his views of the outside from indoors pic.twitter.com/A0RDlux8du

— THE AGENT APSLEY #ScrapUniversalCredit #JC4PM2019 (@THEAGENTAPSLEY) May 3, 2019

End-notes :

* But, never all that convincing usually with human faces, the best of these nudes are seen from the back...

Arguably, #Bonnard's 'best' nude - if a nude should be lively, sensuous and not merely observed - is not even in the show, however... pic.twitter.com/1rIlg6lgxY

— THE AGENT APSLEY #ScrapUniversalCredit #JC4PM2019 (@THEAGENTAPSLEY) May 3, 2019

Even so, it is puzzling that - as allegedly still true of 'glamour models' - the woman is naked, but obliged to wear black court shoes ? (In this case, they may actually be slippers, but in other nudes in the show, they are definitely shoes.)

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Unless stated otherwise, all films reviewed were screened at Festival Central (Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge)