Pierre Bonnard: Landscapes of Le Cannet

Lafayette’s Hilliard University Art Museum is thrilled to announce a new exhibit of the work of French artist Pierre Bonnard, titled Pierre Bonnard: Landscapes from Le Cannet. Bonnard, an admirer of Gaugin, was among the founders of the avant-garde painting school “Les Nabis,” whose work celebrated color above all else and felt that it served a spiritual function beyond merely representing the world as it appeared. Bonnard is most famous for his paintings of his adopted home Le Cannet, a town on the French Riviera adjacent to Cannes. As it has so many other artists, the beautiful terrain of the Côte d’Azur inspired Bonnard to create some of his most accomplished and inspired work, and it’s barely an overstatement to say that to look at his work is to feel the sun and smell the air of this famously beautiful corner of the world.

The solo exhibition is the first of Bonnard’s work in the region, and is the result of a collaboration between Lafayette, the city of Le Cannet (Lafayette’s sister city; we should all be so lucky to have family in the south of France!), and the Musée Bonnard, a museum in Le Cannet dedicated to Bonnard’s art. The exhibition is a labor of love on the part of the Hilliard, which has worked to bring these paintings to the United States since an official visit to Lafayette by Le Cannet mayor Michéle Tabarot two years ago. Arts communities in both cities have worked to realize this dream, and Véronique Serrano, the director of the Musée Bonnard, has guest curated Landscapes from Le Cannet for the Hilliard. Learn more about Lafayette’s sister city and an artist who reimagined Impressionist aesthetics with humor and a refreshed love of beauty. The exhibition is on display May 27-Aug 12, 2017; an opening reception will be held June 9, 6 pm-8 pm. (337) 482-0811 or hilliardmuseum.org for more details.