Iris et Lilas

Iris et Lilas (Iris and Lilacs) belongs to Bonnard's late flower paintings, which combined multiple species in vases that became full chromatic fields rather than botanical studies. Iris and lilac bloom together in late spring in Provence, and their combination—the deep purples and blues of iris against the lighter mauve and white of lilac—gave him a naturally harmonious color chord to work with. His garden at Le Bosquet had both plants, and he cut flowers directly from it for his still-life arrangements. These combined flower subjects from the 1930s and 1940s rank among his most purely chromatic works.

The deep blue-violet of iris and the lighter mauve-white of lilac create a sustained purple-blue harmony that Bonnard plays against the warm ground tone of the surrounding interior. Individual blooms are rendered in clusters of small varied strokes—no single bloom is fully described but the overall impression of each flower type is unmistakable. The vase provides a grounding geometric form beneath the exuberant floral mass.