PIERRE BONNARD | Aux courses (Longchamp)

Sam Salz, Inc., New York
Léon Delaroche, Paris (acquired from the above on 22nd November 1938)
Private Collection, Europe (by descent from the above in 1998)
Private Collection, Europe (sale: Christie's, New York, 8th November 2006, lot 67)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Jean & Henry Dauberville, Bonnard, Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Paris, 1992, vol. I, no. 76, illustrated p. 139

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"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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Painted around 1894, Bonnard’s Aux courses (Longchamp) imbues a long-standing tradition of equestrian painting with a newfound modernity. The subject frequently graced the canvases of Bonnard’s predecessors, from Géricault and Delacroix to Manet and Degas. Their agile equine figures testified to their academic ability to render form in motion against the backdrop of a contemporary scene. Interested in capturing an evolving moment, Bonnard was drawn to this theme and Aux courses (Longchamp) epitomises his unique artistic approach to tradition. Vibrant colours and active brushwork capture the frenzied energy and excitement of the crowd, alluding to the moment’s transient nature. The artist provides an architectural sense of receding space which guides the viewer’s gaze over the flashes of detail which emerge from the chaos of the scene. Critic Roger Marx praised this ability of Bonnard to '[pick] out and quickly [seize] the picturesque in every spectacle' (quoted in Pierre Bonnard, The Graphic Art (exhibition catalogue), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1989, p. 127). These glimpses are likely the result of Bonnard’s burgeoning interest in photography, one which would inform his ephemeral compositions throughout his career. ‘The camera helped Bonnard capture the fugitive instants of vision and experience — those elusive moments of recognition, perception, and emotion — that he said one must seize and note as quickly as possible’ (ibid., p. 177). His practice was, however, equally informed by memory and as such, again differed from the immediate visual perception characteristic of Impressionism. Using a few rapid strokes of pen, Bonnard would capture the passing energy of the scene in his sketchbook before returning to his studio to conceive his colours and compositions from a subjective and sensory memory.

Whereas his predecessors depicted the climactic race, here Bonnard paints the moments before. The figures of the riders and horses in the present work are displaced amongst the fashionable crowd, suggesting that the painting’s true subject is in fact not the horse race but rather the social spectacle itself. In juxtaposing the bustling foreground with the verdant greens of the racetrack and rolling hills, Bonnard further captures the exciting spirit of modern life. The viewer joins the crowd of spectators to contemplate and rejoice in the fleeting moments and social theatrics that Bonnard so enjoyed.