Pierre Bonnard (October 3, 1867 - January 23, 1947) was a French painter and printmaker. He was born in Fontenay-aux-Roses. He led a happy and careless youth as the son of a prominent official of the French Ministry of War.
Bonnard began his career studying law, graduating and practising as a barrister briefly, before he decided to become an artist. In 1891 he met Toulouse-Lautrec and began showing his work at the Salon des Indépendants. His first show was at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1896.
In his twenties he was a part of Les Nabis, a group of young artists committed to creating work of symbolic and spiritual nature. Other Nabis include Édouard Vuillard and Maurice Denis. He left Paris in 1910 for the south of France.
Known for his intense use of color, he painted nudes of his wife Marthe, flowers, interior views and landscapes.
In 1933 there was a major exhibition of his work along with Vuillard's at the Art Institute of Chicago.
He died in Le Cannet, on the French Riviera.
The highest recent price paid for one of his works is $568,000
