Poppies in a Vase

Painted in 1926 and held at the Metropolitan Museum, this floral still life of poppies in a vase belongs to Bonnard's sustained engagement with flowers as vehicles for chromatic intensity. Poppies — vivid scarlet, orange, or pink, with their ephemeral, tissue-paper petals — were ideal subjects for colour experiment: intense in hue, quickly fading, demanding rapid and direct painterly engagement. By 1926, settled at Le Cannet with its abundant garden and nearby market flowers, Bonnard had unlimited access to the flower subjects that provided the most direct occasions for chromatic exploration. The Metropolitan's holding places this floral still life within the broader context of his still life practice.

Scarlet and orange-red poppies are rendered with direct, vivid strokes against a background of varied warm and cool tones. The delicate petals' translucency is captured through varied paint handling — thin, luminous passages of warm colour. The surrounding vase and table provide a structural framework.