Artist
Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867–1947)French, 1867–1947
CultureFrench
Titles
- Dressing Table and Mirror
- Table de toilette et miroir
Datec. 1913
PlaceFrance
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions48 7/8 × 45 15/16 in. (123.8 × 116.7 cm)
Credit LineJohn A. and Audrey Jones Beck Collection, gift of Audrey Jones Beck
Object number74.134
Current Location
The Audrey Jones Beck Building
223 Beck Galleries
On view
Explore Further
Department
European Art, Beck CollectionSpecial Collections
Object Type
[1] See “Bonnard: Oeuvres Récentes,” Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, May 19-June 7, 1913, cat. no. 1, where the work is exhibited as “La toilette au bouquet rouge et jaune” with noted dimensions of “125 x 110 [cm.].”
[2] An undated image of this work with the aforementioned title appears in the Vollard archives as “cliché no. 161,” which suggests the dealer may have been part of the work’s history; yet, to date there is no additional documentation or references to add support to this idea. [See Base Vollard. Fonds d’Archives de la Galerie Ambroise Vollard, Paris, Documentation du Musée d’Orsay (ODO 1996 56-6267) consulted by Robert McD. Parker, October 2024.].
[3] Else von Guaita Lampe (1875, Frankfurt-1963, Bergen, Germany). See Dauberville, Jean et Henry Dauberville, “Bonnard, 1906-1919” Paris: Editions J. et H. Bernheim-Jeune, 1968, vol. 2, cat. no. 772, p. 318, illus., where her ownership is documented; corrections and additional information are provided to this published record as noted herein.
[4] The work was likely shown at the Pierre Bonnard exhibition at the Galerie Georges Moos that ran from February 4-27, 1947. It may have been cat. no. 9: “La table de la toilette.” (Information provided by the archivist Maelle Rigotti at the Musée d’art et d’Histoire, Geneva, to Robert McD. Parker by email on November 5, 2024.)
[5] On the verso of the painting, a label on the stretcher for the Galerie Georges Moos, Geneva bears the no. “2348.” This number corresponds to an entry in the Moos inventory for a painting (no. 2348) listed as “Bonnard, le Miroir” that records an undated sale to “Milich.” It is one of several paintings purchased by Milich from Moos. (Information provided by the archivist Maelle Rigotti at the Musée d’art et d’Histoire, Geneva, to Robert McD. Parker by email on November 5, 2024.) The exact dates of the dealer’s ownership of the present work are currently unknown.
[6] Adolphe Milich (1884, Tyszowce, Poland-1964, Paris), a School of Paris painter, and his wife Carla Milich-Fassbind (1887-1974).
[7] The painting was lent to the cited 1948 exhibition “Pierre Bonnard,” The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1948, cat. no. 39 as “Dressing Table and Mirror, ca. 1920,” illus. p. 89 and was noted (p. 140) as belonging to a private collection in Lugano, “lent through the courtesy of the Galerie Georges Moos, Geneva-Zurich.” On the stretcher of the painting, a label for the loan to this exhibition reads: “48.434 / Milich.”
[8] A copy of the lender’s card from the Museum of Modern Art provides the owners who lent the painting in 1948 (Loan no. 48.434 as M. Adolphe Milich-Fassbind) and in 1964 (Loan no. 64.497 as Mr. and Mrs. Gustave M. Berne) and notes that the work was sold to John Hay Whitney. A copy of the typed loan receipt from MoMA dated 16 April 1948 is annotated by hand and indicates that the sale of the work to John Hay Whitney occurred at the close of the exhibition in July 1948. [MFAH object file-accessed by Robert McD. Parker, April 2024.]
[9] A label for Sam Salz, Inc. is affixed to the stretcher of this work. To date, the exact dates of the dealer’s ownership are unknown. Sam Salz (Vienna, 1894-New York City, 1981).
[10] Mr. and Mrs. Gustave M. Berne loaned the painting in 1964 to the Museum of Modern Art, but it is not currently known when and from whom they acquired this work. See the cited traveling 1964-1965 exhibition “Bonnard and His Environment,” cat. no. 27 (illus. p. 74, pp. 107-108), where the Bernes from Great Neck, New York, are the noted lenders. A label for the loan to this exhibition, affixed to the painting’s stretcher, reads: “64.497 / Berne”
[11] See MFAH object file for a copy of the invoice from the Acquavella Galleries, Inc., dated June 23, 1967 to Mr. and Mrs. John A. Beck. [Reviewed by Robert McD. Parker, April 2024]
Exhibition History"Bonnard: oeuvres recentes," Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1913.
"Pierre Bonnard," The Cleveland Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1948.
"Bonnard, An Intimate Selection," Fine Arts Associates, New York, 1954.
"Bonnard and His Environment," The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1964–1965.
"U.S. Loan Exhibition," National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1971–1973.
"The Collection of John A. and Audrey Jones Beck," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1974.
"Bonnard in Japan," Takashimaya Art Gallery, Tokyo; Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe; Aichi Prefectural Museum, Nagoya; Fukuoka Museum of Art, 1980–1981.
"Bonnard, The Late Paintings," Centres Georges Pompidou, Paris; The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C.; Dallas Museum of Art, 1984.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Signed upper right: Bonnard
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