Stairs with Mimosa

Stairs with Mimosa belongs to Bonnard's Le Cannet garden series—the exterior stairs and terraces of his villa Le Bosquet lined with or framed by the mimosa that bloomed so abundantly in the Provençal winter and spring. Mimosa—with its brilliant acid yellow pompons against silver-grey foliage—was one of the most visually distinctive plants of the Mediterranean flora, and Bonnard exploited its color with evident delight. The combination of architectural elements (stairs, balustrade) and exuberant plant growth was among his most satisfying formal arrangements: the geometry of the man-made structure contrasting with the organic abundance of the flowering tree. These staircase paintings have a theatrical quality, the stairs suggesting both descent and ascent, movement and pause.

The mimosa's acid yellow flowers are rendered in dense clusters of short bright strokes against the silver-green of foliage and the warm stone tones of the stairs. Bonnard places these yellow passages as chromatic anchors within the composition, allowing them to vibrate against the cooler blues and greens of the garden beyond. The architectural elements are rendered more firmly to provide spatial structure.