Artwork Page for The Plaid Dress

Details / Information for The Plaid Dress

The Plaid Dress

1926

Pierre Bonnard

(French, 1867–1947)
Culture
France
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
Unframed: 77.2 x 46.4 cm (30 3/8 x 18 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley 2026.1
Copyright
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
223 20th Century Avant-Garde
Print
?

Did You Know?

Plaid dresses were extremely fashionable in the late 1800s and early 1900s in Paris.

Description

This painting depicts the artist’s wife Marthe holding a yellow cup and saucer as she walks toward a door leading to a sunlit terrace. The profusion of patterns and close color harmonies of Marthe’s plaid dress and the wallpaper behind her make it initially difficult to discern the woman from her surroundings. Bonnard treated everything—whether human or inanimate—with equal importance in his work of this period. The artist said that he wished “to show what one sees on first entering a room, what the eye takes in at one glance; one sees everything, and at the same time nothing.”
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a woman with medium-light skin tone standing and facing our left. She holds a small yellow cup and saucer in both hands. Her dress features a plaid pattern of orange, green, and purple bands. To our left is a pale doorway, and a patterned curtain hangs to our right. Dappled brushstrokes in warm and muted colors create a textured, shimmering surface across the entire composition.

The Plaid Dress

1926

Pierre Bonnard

(French, 1867–1947)
France

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

Contact Us

The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please fill out the appropriate request form linked below:

Update or Correct Artwork Information

Imagery or Rights for Non-Open-Access Artworks

Report a Website Issue

Further Questions About This Artwork