Bust in profile, red background (study)

Demonstrating Pierre Bonnard’s status as an eminent colourist, ‘Bust in profile, red background’ is an experience of entangled seduction and harmony. Pictured either naked or bathing, the theme as in many of Bonnard’s paintings is his beloved wife Marthe, who is the catalyst for his studies on form and colour. With her neck fully elongated and her head curiously tilted to one side, Marthe bends down in an uncontrived manner with little consciousness of her husband nearby. Although the scene is a domestic one, Marthe’s unusual profile coupled with the earthy ochres and deep ambers evoke the tribal and animalistic elements of the body and intimacy.

At the centre of the foreground-based composition, Marthe’s bronzed face is delicately outlined with an untouched line of white canvas and illustrates Bonnard’s great sensitivity to colour and emotion. Whilst the left-hand side of the canvas is dominated by unharnessed colour and warmth, Bonnard paints a yellow striped sofa on the right to create structure and cool respite. Lying abandoned in one corner of the sofa are Marthe’s clothes, which further remind the viewer of her nakedness and the sensuality of the body. Despite Marthe’s self-absorption, ‘Bust in profile, red background' is a deeply intimate and adoring image of the relationship between husband and wife, as artist and muse and lovers alike. (EF)