Bonnard2023

7. L’Escalier , c. 1932

Oil and gouache on paper, laid down on canvas 25¼ x 19 ½ in. ( 64 . 1 x 49 . 5 cm) Signed lower left provenance: Eugene Victor Thaw & Co., New York; Private collection, acquired from the above in 1964 ; By descent to the current owner.

This work depicts the interior stairs of the Bonnard house at Le Cannet with the couple’s dog at the bottom of the stairs and Marthe peeking out from the right. Other depictions of this scene include “L’Escalier au tableau” in the collection of the Musée de l’Abbaye, Saint Claude (illustrated in Bonnard et Le Cannet dans la Lumière de la Mediterranée ) and a later drawing “Escalier de l’Interieur de la Villa du Bosquet” ( Bonnard Inédits , 2003 , figure 343 ).