Bonnard Intime: 200 Works on Marthe's Toilette at Musée Bonnard, Le Cannet

The Musée Bonnard in Le Cannet is presenting 'Bonnard intime. Les toilettes de Marthe', an exhibition dedicated to Pierre Bonnard's intimate scenes of his wife and muse Marthe at her toilette. Running until 31 October 2026, the show brings together 200 works, including around twenty paintings, numerous drawings, prints, and photographs, many from private collections and rarely exhibited. Curated by Véronique Serrano, the museum's director and chief curator, the exhibition explores how Bonnard, unlike Degas's voyeuristic approach, focused on composition and pictorial treatment, capturing Marthe in fragile, absorbed poses. The display reconstructs the bathroom of Bonnard's villa 'Le Bosquet' in Le Cannet, where he painted several of his 'Nus dans le bain' and 'Grandes baignoires'. Highlights include 'La Toilette' (1931), with its luminous yellow planes, and 'L'Atelier au mimosa' (1939-1946), described by Jean Clair as a 'solar eruption'. The exhibition traces the evolution of Bonnard's palette from earthy tones to vibrant colors, as seen in works like 'Nu au gant bleu' (1916). Marthe, a young milliner met in 1893, became his companion, muse, and wife in 1925, inspiring approximately 200 paintings on this motif. The show also features a second, smaller exhibition around 'L'Atelier au mimosa', loaned by the Centre Pompidou.