A biography for Pierre Bonnardhasn’t been written yet.
“You cannot possibly invent painting all by yourself.”
“I'm trying to do what I have never done - give the impression one has on entering a room: one sees everything and at the same time nothing.”
“The important thing is to remember what most impressed you and to put it on canvas as fast as possible.”
“You reason color more than you reason drawing... Color has a logic as severe as form.”
“I should like to present myself to the young painters of the year 2000 with the wings of a butterfly.”
“Draw your pleasure, paint your pleasure, and express your pleasure strongly.”
“One always talks of surrendering to nature. There is also such a thing as surrendering to the picture.”
“A painting that is well composed is half finished.”
“It is still color, it is not yet light.”
“When you forget everything, there only remains yourself - and that is not enough.”
“Color does not add a pleasant quality to design - it reinforces it.”
“Art will never be able to exist without nature.”
“Work on the accent, it will enliven the whole.”
“The precision of naming takes away from the uniqueness of seeing.”