BONNARD EQUALS BOX OFFICE-HOW MUSEUMS ABUSE MASTERPIECES

Bonnard: View of the River, Vernon . It is in fact a view of his garden at Vernonnet with the Seine in the distance. Painted 1923.Edinburgh.

I have been reading the catalogue of the current Bonnard exhibition at the Tate and it has caused me some concern.It took quite bit of study to work out just which works are in the exhibition and to the best of my calculation I believe that it contains 91 paintings, several drawings and modern prints of Bonnard's photographs.


The exhibition is founded on the excellent Bonnards from the collection of Tate Modern along with some accompanying drawings. It also includes the two fine Bonnards from Edinburgh. So for quite some time members of the public will be unable to see these excellent paintings without paying a substantial fee. They will also be exposed to the vicissitudes of travel to at least one other venue. As far as I can see all of the  paintings are going to the Denmark showing and possibly also to Vienna. In Vienna the venue is a kunsthalle which has no collection of its own from  which to contribute.

To the best of my knowledge the Tate paintings are not usually displayed together in their home, but they are in this show. A lover of Bonnard would like to see this but equally a lover of Bonnard would have grave concerns about the presentation of such gorgeous paintings in  that joyless, underinvigilated, inhospitable mausoleum known as Tate Modern. But better  that they are preserved  because I don't really think that the Tate is fit to have custody of them.They would be more at home in the National Gallery.

Do not buy the catalogue.It really does not contribute anything of substance to Bonnard studies at all.Also, many of the illustrations are dreadful reproductions of the originals.The catalogue for the earlier Tate show is much better and if you want a general book on Bonnard you might as well read Tim Hyman's text. At least a painter is reflecting on another artist's work.

Also in the exhibition are old standards such as the standing nude from Brussels, the couple from Paris and the Atelier with Mimosas also from Paris.I have seen many Bonnard exhibitions starting with the unsurpassable show at the R.A of 1966 and these paintings have been in most of them.  I yield to no one in my love for Bonnard but possibly the most interesting-because critical- review of the exhibition that I have seen come from-of all people- Adrian Searle in The Guardian. He admits that he is not one of Bonnard's greatest fans but I do find that some of his reservations are very understandable. It isnt the usual Bonnard=bonheur equation by any means. For that reason alone it is worth a look.