Pierre Bonnard was born on October 3, 1867 in France. He was a painter and printmaker best known for his vibrant and dreamlike paintings, often depicting his wife. His passion was to paint scenes of intimacy, and from memory and notes–rather than the rehearsed quality one might gain by painting from a model, he was able to freely pour his heart into his work and focus more on the emotion. This technique probably influenced the way that his work was less characterized by realism and more by color and illusion. He said of his methods, “I have all my subjects to hand. I go back and look at them. I take notes. Then I go home. And before I start painting I reflect, I dream.” ^1 He had an impressionistic style and was part of a group of artists called Les Nabis, focusing on symbolism and spirituality in art.
^1 Whitfield, 9 quoted from Wikipedia