Nude on the Chair

Nude on the Chair from 1935, now at the Botero Museum in Bogotá, belongs to a group of late works Bonnard made during the years of Marthe's greatest physical decline. The chair as domestic object gave him an alternative to the bathtub and bed that dominate much of his nude production, placing the figure in a slightly more social context within the private room. Fernando Botero's collection, now preserved as the Botero Museum, contains important European works acquired during his decades as a collector alongside his own production. That a Colombian collection holds this intimate French canvas speaks to Bonnard's international reputation established in the 1930s.

The chair grounds the figure in a domestic setting more ambiguous than the bathroom, allowing Bonnard to explore the relationship between the nude body and furniture. The color is characteristically intense for the mid-1930s, with strong contrasts between the warm flesh and the cooler room beyond.