Street Scene, Place Clichy

Painted in 1895 and held at the Metropolitan Museum, this view of the Place Clichy — a major Montmartre intersection — belongs to Bonnard's early engagement with the modern Parisian street. In the 1890s Bonnard was closely associated with the Montmartre artistic world; he lived near the Butte and his early street scenes reflect both the Impressionist tradition of urban observation and the Nabi interest in flattened pattern. The Place Clichy, with its crowds, cabs, and cafes, was a locus of urban modernity. Bonnard's early street scenes have an almost poster-like graphic quality, reflecting his successful career as a lithographer for posters and periodicals including La Revue Blanche.

The street scene is rendered with a graphic flatness appropriate to Bonnard's parallel printmaking practice. Crowds are suggested through abbreviated marks rather than individual rendition. The palette of greys, muted yellows, and dark clothing creates an urban chromatic key distinct from his domestic interiors.