Kimbell Museum, 50th Anniversary, Salutes Pierre Bonnard

I love visiting Fort Worth, “where the West begins,” as they say, for its high spirits, civic pride, friendliness, and its stellar art museums. A couple of weeks ago, I was there to see Bonnard’s Worlds, the Kimbell Art Museum’s characteristically perfect look at Pierre Bonnard’s paintings of hearth, home, and, since he lived on the French Riviera near Cannes, lush gardens by the sea.

Bonnard (1867–1947) might be the very last Impressionist. Art history credits him as a Nabi inspired by Gauguin. However steeped he was in the aesthetic of Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas, or anyone else, though, he’s his own thing. And it seems he never painted a clunker.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

I love visiting Fort Worth, “where the West begins,” as they say, for its high spirits, civic pride, friendliness, and its stellar art museums. A couple of weeks ago, I was there to see Bonnard’s Worlds, the Kimbell Art Museum’s characteristically perfect look at Pierre Bonnard’s paintings of hearth, home, and, since he lived on the French Riviera near Cannes, lush gardens by the sea.

Bonnard (1867–1947) might be the very last Impressionist. Art history credits him as a Nabi inspired by Gauguin. However steeped he was in the aesthetic of Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas, or anyone else, though, he’s his own thing. And it seems he never painted a clunker.