Portrait of Ambroise Vollard

Painted in 1904 and held at the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection in Zurich, this portrait of Ambroise Vollard — the pioneering dealer who exhibited Cézanne, Picasso, and many Post-Impressionists — is one of three versions Bonnard made of the same sitter in the same year. Vollard was a crucial figure in the Paris art world; his gallery on the rue Laffitte was the fulcrum of the avant-garde market from the 1890s through the 1920s. Bonnard's portrait, one of multiple works documenting Vollard, presents the dealer in a characteristic pose — solid, slightly oblique, absorbed in his own thought. The Bührle collection was assembled by a major Swiss collector with a particular interest in French modern art.

The sitter is rendered with a directness that balances characterisation and formal composition. The surrounding space is tonally subdued, allowing the figure to emerge. Bonnard's touch is more restrained than in his domestic works, the portrait tradition requiring a different kind of observation.