Portrait Ambroise Vollard

c. 1904/1905

on display

Pierre Bonnard1867 Fontenay-aux-Roses – 1947 Le Cannet

Bonnard painted several portraits of the art dealer, publisher and art writer Ambroise Vollard (1865-1939), whom he had met through Maurice Denis in 1893 (see in Jean et Henry Dauberville: Bonnard. Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, vol. I: 1888-1905 (Paris 1965, revised and updated edition 1992), vol. I, 1965, nos. 303, 304 (Zurich, Stiftung Sammlung E. G. Bührle); Jean et Henry Dauberville: Bonnard. Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, vol. III: 1920-1939 (Paris 1973), vol. III, 1973, nos. 1259, 1260 and vol. IV, 1974, no. 01854). Vollard had Bonnard illustrate a substantial part of the books he published.
Cézanne's 'Quatre Baigneuses' from 1879-1882 (Venturi 1936, no. 386) can be seen on the wall, a painting that belonged to Vollard, who had organized the first large Cézanne exhibition in 1895 with over a hundred paintings. In 1901 he hosted the first Picasso exhibition, and in 1904 the first Matisse exhibition.
Vollard was also portrayed by Renoir, Cézanne and Picasso.In: Kunsthaus Zürich. Gesamtkatalog der Gemälde und Skulpturen, Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft (ed.), edited by Christian Klemm, Franziska Lentzsch, Gian Casper Bott et al., Ostfildern, Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2007.

Also known as

Portrait of Ambroise Vollard Portrait d'Ambroise Vollard [original]

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

image: 74 x 93 cm

Inventory number

1950/0007

Credit line

Kunsthaus Zürich, 1950

Signature

inscr. b. r.: Bonnard

Inscriptions

verso auf dem Rückseitenschutz diverse Etiketten [alle nach 1950]; auf dem Rahmen bez. u. M. in Weiss: 16 […] [hs, auf dem Kopf stehend]; darüber Rundstempel [nicht lesbar]; u. M. in Blau: 91 [oder] 97 [hs, auf dem Kopf stehend]; auf dem Keilrahmen o. l. Etikette: Dez/84 [hs, grün]; o. M. blaue KHZ-Etikette; o. r. in Blau: 494 [hs, blauer Stift]; r. u. Etikette [auf der Seite stehend]; darüber Stempel hinten auf dem Keilrahmen rechts weiter unten Etikette [auf der Seite stehend]; darüber Stempel: 5, rue de la Terrasse, PARIS [auf der Seite stehend] – beides unvollständig, weil Etikette abgerissen; r. u. in Bleistift: G. H. 28 [?] [hs]

Catalogue raisonné

Dauberville Bonnard I.282.306

Accession year

1950

Provenance

Pierre Bonnard (*1867 Fontenay-aux-Roses, +1947 Le Cannet) (Künstler/-in)
o.D. – höchstens bis 22.7.1939, Ambroise Vollard (*1865 Saint-Denis, Réunion, +1939 Versailles) (Sammler/-in), ParisDauberville 1992 (Bd. 1), S. 282, Nr. 306.
Verbleib unbekannt
o.D. – 1950, Jean Dufresne (Galerie), ParisZKG/KHZ Inventarbuch Slg.; ZKG/KHZ Inventarbogen/Werkdossier.
o.D. – 1950, Galerie Maeght (Vermittler/-in), ParisSitzungsprotokoll der Sammlungskommission, 01.02.1950 und 14.03.1950, Archiv ZKG/KHZ, 10.30.10.42.
ab 1950, Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft | Kunsthaus Zürich (Museum), Zürich, Kauf, 22'000 CHFWie oben Fussnote 5.

Provenance category

no indications of being looted art

Provenance category (FOC)

B – The provenance from 1933 to 1945 has not been unambiguously clarified; gaps in the ownership history remain. According to current research, there is no evidence of Nazi-looted art. There are no implications of Nazi-looted art and / or conspicuous circumstances.

Literature (provenance)

- Jean et Henry Dauberville: Bonnard. Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Bd. I: 1888-1905, Paris, 1992, S. 282, Nr. 306.

About the provenance

The «Portrait d’Ambroise Vollard» by Pierre Bonnard was acquired for the Kunsthaus Zürich in 1950 from a ‘Monsieur Dufresne, Paris’. In the minutes of the collection committee meeting on 27 April 1950, it is noted that the painting ‘was purchased directly from a Parisian private collection through the Paris art trade’, specifically Galerie Maeght in Paris. Its previous owner was probably the Parisian gallerist Jean Dufresne. When he acquired it, and from whom, is unknown, but it can be assumed that the portrait of Vollard, a Parisian art dealer, was also in the possession of its subject from the time it was painted until his death in 1939. Thereafter, it probably stayed on the Parisian art market. Although there are gaps in its provenance, there has not to date been any suspicion that it was confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution. State of research 30.09.2024 Do you have questions, criticism, suggestions, and further information? Please send us a message to provenienzforschung(at)kunsthaus.ch.

Literature (general)

- Kunsthaus Zürich. Gesamtkatalog der Gemälde und Skulpturen, hrsg. von Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft et al., Sammlungskatalog, Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2007, S. 595. - Matisse-Bonnard. Es lebe die Malerei!, hrsg. von Felix Krämer, Ausst.-Kat. Städel Museum, München: Prestel, 2017, No. 4, S. 27. - Ursula Perucchi-Petri: Bonnard und Vuillard im Kunsthaus Zürich (Sammlungsheft 3), Sammlungskatalog Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, 1972, No. 4, S. 66-71. - Ory Dessau: David Nipo. About a Portrait: Ronald Fuhrer, 2012, S. 19. - Jean et Henry Dauberville: Bonnard. Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Bd. I: 1888-1905, Paris, 1992, No. 306, S. 282. - Pierre Bonnard 1867-1947. Peindre l'arcadie, Ausst.-Kat. Fundación MAPFRE/Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 2015, S. 249. - Margrit Hahnloser-Ingold: «Die Segelpartie. Vom «Aspect Enchanteur» zum Bild», in: Bonnard, Ausst.-Kat. Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, 1984, No. 36 [Text: Marianne Matta]. - Esprit Montmartre. Die Bohème in Paris um 1900, hrsg. von Ingrid Pfeiffer, Ausst.-Kat. Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, 2014, S. 286 (ill.). - Isabelle Cahn: Bonnard, Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2023, No. 298, S. 324 (ill.).

Object type

painting

Classification

D 1[2] art 20th century worldwide

Keywords