Provenance

Bernheim-Jeune

French, est. 1863 - closed 2018

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See all 46 works of art
Two green pears lit from the upper right sit on a pale blue tabletop or ledge against a dark background in this horizontal still life painting. The left pear sits upright against the other. The left-hand pear’s laurel-green skin is flecked with dark brown, and its black stem tips to our left. The other pear lies on its side with its stem angled toward the table to our right. Its lighter green skin is tinged with peach along its top curve. The surface beneath the pears is loosely painted with ice blue flecked with gray, blush pink, and sky blue, perhaps suggesting marble. The front, right corner of the table nearly lines up with the bottom right corner of the composition. The area below the table and the wall behind the table are dark brown. Barely visible, the artist signed the painting with black paint against the dark brown skirt of the table, “Manet.”
Edouard Manet, Pears, 1880, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 2014.18.28

Pears

Edouard Manet · 1880 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2014.18.28

This painting depicts a partially nude woman from the waist up. She is seated, facing us, wearing a bright blue headscarf that conceals her hair. There is a small black cross on her forehead. The woman has pale skin, dark eyes, and a neutral expression, and she wears with a necklace of round yellow ornaments. Her chest is bare, but a green fabric is wrapped around her waist. Her hands are clasped in her lap. The chair she sits on has yellow and olive-green stripes, and the wall behind her is tan, with red, leaf-patterned drapery on the right side.
Henri Matisse, Odalisque, Half-Length--The Tattoo, 1923, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.40

Odalisque, Half-Length--The Tattoo

Henri Matisse · 1923 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.40

A young girl with pale skin and long brown hair looks at us as she braces a tall, wooden hoop with one hand by her hip in this vertical painting. The girl stands close to us with her body angled to our right, and she looks at us from the corners of her dark blue eyes. Her delicate nose, rosy cheeks, and closed, rose-pink lips are set in a heart-shaped face. She has wavy, chestnut-brown hair that falls loosely around her shoulders. Bangs brush across her forehead, and her hair is pulled back in half, tied in a pale blue ribbon. She wears a sky-blue dress with a ruffle around the wide collar. The long sleeves are rolled back over her wrists, and the dress is tied at the waist with an aquamarine-blue sash tied into a bow at her lower back. The knee-length skirt flares out from the waist. She wears ice-blue socks pulled halfway up her shins and black, low-heeled Mary Jane-style shoes tied with bows over the arches. One foot turns to rest on the bottom edge of the wooden hoop she braces with her left hand, farther from us. She holds a short stick by her side with the other hand. The ground around her is painted with blended areas of muted topaz blue, peach, and canary yellow. The top third of the background is a loosely painted garden, with lime and spring-green leaves, and a cluster of shell-pink flowers to our right. The artist signed and dated the painting in the lower left corner, “Renoir. 85.”
Auguste Renoir, Girl with a Hoop, 1885, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.58

Girl with a Hoop

Auguste Renoir · 1885 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.58

Auguste Renoir, Marie Murer, 1877, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.59

Marie Murer

Auguste Renoir · 1877 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.59

Shown from the waist up, we look slightly down onto a pale-skinned woman as she looks down and writes on a piece of paper in this vertical painting. The scene is loosely painted so brushstrokes are visible throughout and detail, especially in the background, is hard to make out. The woman wears a midnight-blue garment with long sleeves and a ruffled collar, and her hair is pinned or twisted up on the crown of her head. Her dark pink lips curve in a slight smile as she looks down with the pen poised in her right hand. Her left hand, to our right, rests with the fingertips on the sheet of paper. The table top is parchment white, and pink, white, and mint-green forms, presumably paper and a stationary box, sit in front of the woman and to our left. Her chair has a curved back and is upholstered with claret red. A vertical golden yellow strip on the right edge of the painting may indicate a curtain or wall, and a blend of muted blue, ash brown, and emerald green suggest patterned fabric or wallpaper behind her. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner, “Bonnard.”
Pierre Bonnard, The Letter, c. 1906, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.86

The Letter

Pierre Bonnard · c. 1906 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.86

This painting depicts a woman standing in profile, facing the right. She has light skin, dark hair styled in a low bun, rosy cheeks, and pink lips, and she is wearing a white off-the-shoulder blouse and a red skirt. She holds a large woven basket filled with gray-and-orange fish and is resting it on her hip. The background shows a beach-like landscape with a vast blue sky over tan dunes with hints of orange and pink. The brushstrokes in the painting are thick and visible.
Auguste Renoir, Girl with a Basket of Fish, c. 1889, oil on canvas, Gift of William Robertson Coe, 1956.4.1

Girl with a Basket of Fish

Auguste Renoir · c. 1889 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1956.4.1

A small, long brown dog is partly hidden by a bowl of red cherries perched on the right edge of a table in this loosely painted, horizontal scene. In the light-filled interior, the table fills the lower left half of the composition. It is draped with a sand-colored cloth decorated with a diagonal band of rose-pink strokes that ends near the lower right. In the center of the table, a tall glass pitcher half filled with water rests in a shallow burgundy-red bowl. Next to the pitcher, to our right, one bowl piled with cherries sits in front of clusters of green grapes in another bowl. Beyond the table, a wooden piece of furniture with two open shelves fills the upper left of the composition. The dog stands on the right side facing our left in profile. It is chocolate brown with a short tail and stubby little legs, and its face is hidden by the cherries. The walls and floors of the room are painted in swipes of teal, peach, tan, blues, and grays. The artist has signed the upper center right in red, “Bonnard.”
Pierre Bonnard, Still Life with Dog, c. 1912, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 2014.18.1

Still Life with Dog

Pierre Bonnard · c. 1912 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2014.18.1

We look down onto papers and books piled on a small wooden table with delicate, spindle legs, with a dog and cat on a sofa in the background in this vibrantly colored, stylized, vertical painting. The scene is loosely painted with dabs and visible brushstrokes in butterscotch and golden yellow, azure and navy blue, apple red, and white. The square table takes up most of the bottom two-thirds of the composition. Its surface is almost entirely covered with a spread of papers and stacks of books, including two thick, white volumes near the front, right corner and a thin red book on the other front corner. Smaller squares between the books are painted with streaks and washes of turquoise blue, scarlet, and brick red. A tall, narrow vase with abstracted, ice-blue flowers sits behind the stacked books, to our right. Beyond that, at the back right corner of the table, a sheet of paper reads “ALBUM MUSICAL,” with the final L partially obscured by a piece of bubblegum-pink paper set askew atop the stacked books. The artist’s name appears in rust-red letters on a paper at the back left corner of the table: “Bonnard.” The rug beneath the table is dominated by a vivid, azure-blue ring. The blue ring is surrounded by a white band decorated with widely spaced, black ovals dotted with pale lemon yellow. At the center of the blue ring is a black circle dotted with abstracted rosettes made with rings of apricot orange and gray around yellow centers. At the back edge of the rug, at the top left corner of the painting, a white cat sits and brown spotted dog lies on a mustard-yellow sofa, which has a wooden arm on the end we can see. There is a tangerine-orange chair next to it, in the upper right corner of the painting, and a teal-blue block there could be a pillow. The floor between the furniture is goldenrod yellow.
Pierre Bonnard, Work Table, 1926/1937, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 2006.128.12

Work Table

Pierre Bonnard · 1926/1937 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2006.128.12

A nearly nude woman with a pale, pink complexion leans back into a striped, upholstered chair with her arms overhead, holding opposite elbows, and one foot tucked under her in this stylized, vertical painting. The scene is painted loosely, making some details indistinct. The woman’s torso faces us but her legs are angled slightly to our right, and she looks off in that direction with dark brown eyes under dark, arched brows. Her features are loosely painted but she seems to have a straight nose and her small, scarlet-red mouth is closed. Her dark brown hair curls down to her ears in a chin-length bob. She wears only a gauzy, transparent cloth, which is gathered low on her hips with a golden-brown belt. Loosely painted, short and zigzag strokes of chocolate brown and harvest gold suggest a wide band of embroidery or decoration around the bottom hem. The woman’s raised arms show two tufts of dark brown hair in her armpits. She has round breasts with dark pink nipples, and a curving belly and hips. Her left knee, farther from us, is bent sharply against the back of the chair so her foot is tucked behind her other thigh. The chair is striped with lime green, white, and lemon yellow. The floor is terracotta orange. A strip of light blue with a gold pattern to the left and a red area with a flower pattern to our right suggest fabrics draped on the sand-brown wall. The artist signed the work in the lower left corner, "Henri Matisse."
Henri Matisse, Odalisque Seated with Arms Raised, Green Striped Chair, 1923, oil on canvas, Chester Dale Collection, 1963.10.167

Odalisque Seated with Arms Raised, Green Striped Chair

Henri Matisse · 1923 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1963.10.167

This painting shows a young woman standing in profile, facing the left and holding a basket of orange-yellow fruit. She has fair skin and light brown hair in a low bun, and she is wearing a dress with a blue vest, white sleeves, a tan skirt, a brown belt, a dark green apron, and black boots. The background includes tan ground, pale green foliage, blue water, and a pale blue sky. The brushstrokes in the painting are soft and visible.
Auguste Renoir, Girl with a Basket of Oranges, c. 1889, oil on canvas, Gift of William Robertson Coe, 1956.4.2

Girl with a Basket of Oranges

Auguste Renoir · c. 1889 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1956.4.2