The Terrace at Vernonnet

Painted in 1939 and held at the Metropolitan Museum, this view of the terrace at Vernonnet belongs to Bonnard's final years at the Seine property before his permanent move to Le Cannet. Vernonnet had been his base for almost three decades; the terrace, overlooking the garden and river, was a subject he returned to across many seasons. By 1939 — the year of France's declaration of war on Germany — Bonnard was in his 72nd year, and the paintings of this period have a particular chromatic concentration that seems to intensify with age. The terrace overlooking the garden is rendered with mature chromatic confidence: the lush summer vegetation of the Seine valley in full light.

The terrace structure provides a geometric framework within which Bonnard deploys his mature high-key palette. Deep greens and brilliant yellows of summer foliage, contrasted with the warm stone and ochre of the terrace, create a vibrant warm-cool dialogue. Spatial recession is partially suppressed.