In this vibrant, stylized, vertical painting, we gaze down at a small wooden table with delicate spindle legs, piled high with papers and books. In the background, a dog and cat rest on a mustard-yellow sofa. The scene is loosely rendered with visible brushstrokes in rich tones of butterscotch, golden yellow, azure, navy blue, apple red, and white. The square table, which dominates the lower two-thirds of the composition, is nearly covered with papers and stacked books, including two thick white volumes in the front right corner and a thin red book on the opposite side. Between the books, colorful streaks and washes of turquoise, scarlet, and brick red create lively squares of color. A tall vase with abstracted ice-blue flowers sits to the right of the book piles, while a paper labeled "ALBUM MUSICAL" rests in the back corner, partially covered by a bubblegum-pink sheet.
The rug beneath the table features a bold azure-blue ring surrounded by a white band with black ovals and lemon-yellow dots. At its center, a black circle with abstract rosettes in apricot and gray frames yellow centers. In the upper left, a white cat and brown-spotted dog relax on the sofa, near a tangerine-orange chair and a teal-blue block, likely a pillow. The floor between the furniture is painted in goldenrod yellow, adding warmth to the scene.
Pierre Bonnard’s Work Table is unlike the artist’s other late paintings of interiors—dominated by large swaths of blue and yellow, rather than small strokes of color. Bonnard began the painting in 1926 but returned to it in 1937 to simplify the design of rosettes on the blue rug. Bonnard included his signature among the materials on the table. Can you find it?
I always think Bonnard's works should be seen live on the walls. But what can we do if we can't own one or have a museum close to us? Of course, look at it in the DailyArt app and in DailyArt 2025 Calendars! Check our amazing Wall and Desk calendars full of art in the DailyArt Shop. :)
P.S. Bonnard was part of a great wave of experimentation in art that came right after Impressionism. How well do you know about it? Test yourself in our QUIZ on the Post-Impressionist painters!