Video No. 6004. English Language Pal VHS.
An Exploration of Art on Film.
'In Search Of Pure Colour'.
A Film by Didier Baussy.
The French painter Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) was one of the greatest colourists of modern art, famed for his interiors, landscapes and female nudes.
In following Bonnard's lifelong search for "pure colour", this film develops several themes. Taking a cue from a small collection of paintings and photographs that Bonnard had pinned to the wall of his attic studio, it examines the friendship and influence of fellow artists Gauguin, Cezanne, Seurat, Renoir and Matisse. Other sources of inspiration, in particular Japanese art and the intense light and colours of the Mediterranean, are also explored, while the personal and intimate side of the artist's life is reflected in his self-portraits, in his correspondence with Matisse, and in his private sketchbooks.
Women played a major role in Bonnard's life, and the programme shows a series of beautiful nudes that are among his greatest paintings.
Shot largely on location in the South of France in the houses and landscape that are represented in his paintings, 'In Search Of Pure Colour' shows the way in which these elements were reflected in Bonnard's art, and charts the development of Bonnard's painting towards an almost abstract tribute to colour itself.
