Reine Natanson et Marthe Bonnard au corsage rouge

This 1928 double portrait of Reine Natanson and Marthe Bonnard — the artist's companion and eventual wife, who appears in hundreds of his paintings — brings together two women from different parts of Bonnard's life: the social world of the Revue Blanche patrons and the intimate domestic world of his long relationship with Marthe. Marthe, mysterious and withdrawn, rarely appeared in social contexts in Bonnard's paintings; her presence here alongside Reine Natanson is unusual. The Musée National d'Art Moderne holds the canvas as part of its collection of Bonnard's mature work.

Two figures in a domestic interior setting are painted with Bonnard's characteristic luminous color — the red corsage of one woman creating a vivid focal point. His broken, mosaic-like application of varied color strokes gives the scene its distinctive shimmering quality. Light from an unseen source fills the interior with warm color.