4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2010.

Misia on a Divan

Artist Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867-1947)

CultureFrench

Dateca. 1907-1914

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 32 x 46 in. (81.3 x 116.8 cm)
Overall, Frame: 39 1/2 x 53 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. (100.3 x 135.9 x 8.9 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.503

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 217

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. The central foreground figure is a woman dressed in a long gown with a white collar. The predominate colors are red and magenta. She is reclining on a divan, which is nearly the same color as her gown. There is no one color for her gown or the divan, but rather a chorus of similar colors conglomerated together. Wide loose brush strokes characterize this painting, and there are very little details. There is possibly a little dog or cat sitting next to her. The background appears to have an open door to a garden, hinted at by the melange of greens, browns and gold.

Label TextPierre Bonnard French, 1867–1947 Misia on a Divan, ca. 1907–14 Oil on canvas Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.503 ProvenanceMme. Misia Sert, Paris; willed 1950 to Boulos Ristelheuber; M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1955; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971.Exhibition History"French Paintings 1789-1929 from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH, Marck 25 - May 22, 1960. "Treasures from The Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, Tenn., June 12 - September 5, 1977. (Exh. cat. no. 48) "Cocteau Generations: Spirit of the French Avant-Garde," an exhibit organized by the French-American Organization, Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, NYU, New York, May 17 - June 23, 1984; Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, FL, July 14 - September 7, 1984; Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin, TX, Octtober 7 - November 5, 1984. "Pierre Bonnard, 1867-1947," Isetan Museum of Art, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, July 4-30, 1991; Nara Sogo Museum of Art, Nara, Japan, August 7 - September 1, 1991; Sogo Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan, September 7 - October 19, 1991; Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan, October 17 - November 10, 1991. "La Danza delle Avanguardie," Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto (MART), Rovereto, Italy, December 15, 2005 - May 7, 2006. "Misia, Queen of Paris" [Misia, Reine de Paris], Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, June 11 - September 9, 2012. Published ReferencesEric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya, _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._, exh. cat., Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, Tenn., 1977, no. 48. _Pierre Bonnard, 1867-1947_ (Tokyo: 1991), Color plate no. 21, n.p.; cat. no. 21, p. 148 (catalogue entry by Gabriel P. Weisberg). Gabriella Belli and Elisa Guzzo Vaccarino, _La Danza delle Avanguardie_, exh. cat., Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, 2006, 239. Isabelle Cahn et al., _Misia: Reine de Paris_, exh. cat. (Musée d'Orsay: Paris, 2012) 156.