Alexandre, François Bonnardel (1867-1942)- Dreamer, Oil On Cardboard Signed, 1920

Alexandre-François BONNARDEL (Pajay, Isère 1867- Lyon, Rhône 1942).- "Dreamer", 1920. Oil on canvas board under glass signed lower right: "A.-F BONNARDEL". On the reverse, affixed label of the Société Lyonnaise des Beaux-Arts. Original frame in gilded, stuccoed and molded wood in the Louis XV style with cross-patterns, floral garlands and fan-shaped clasps of pom-poms. A very pretty Dreamer: In this "Delicate Study" presented at the Salon of the Société Lyonnaise des Beaux-Arts in 1920 under the title of "Dreamer", Alexandre-François Bonnardel (1867-1942) orchestrates with a brilliant stylistic dilettantism the pictorial qualities augured by his "Indolence" of 1905, whose plastic particularities were immediately noted by a contemporary art critic: "With a broad and solid execution which shows as much verve as decision, Mr. Alexandre Bonnardel shows himself very personal in the way of presenting his model and also personal in his colorings". (Le Passe-Temps of February 26, 1905). Depicted seated, slightly three-quarter length, on a narrow "A la Récamier" bench, a young woman exquisitely disguised as an Elegant Empire Period woman—a long silk dress belted below the waist with small balloon sleeves, high gloves, small satin shoes, a vaporous muslin stole with embroidered floral motifs, a ribboned convertible hood—is deliberately portrayed in a pensive, dreamy attitude. Carefully considered, her posture—foot raised and flexed, knees and hands crossed, fingers intertwined, bust with a serious bearing, head tilted back—suggests an intimate reflection. Under the alluring headdress with prettily untied ribbons, framed by black curls, her subtly rosy face displays an expression that is both simpering and preoccupied. Evasive, her gaze seems immersed in some secret reverie. With sagacity, the artist has profiled his female model on the front of a large screen where we notice, sketched, a panoramic military battle scene (silhouetted valleys of the walls of a city, cannons, grenadiers, horsemen rushing towards the plain, ..). Evocative of some Napoleonic exploits, this decorative element is a tacit echo both to the artistic career of A. Bonnardel - who episodically devoted himself to the gratifying historical genre - and to the pictorial work of his distinguished compatriot Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891), a champion of Imperial victories. From then on, the title of "Dreamer" adopted for this finely thought-out little picture emancipates itself from the simple anecdotal genre and covers several meanings. As a "tasty colorist", the painter deploys his distinctive "melodic style". Milky whites temper the boldness of an "Empire yellow," shaping the forms. Chords of black and gray crisscross and structure the pictorial composition enveloped in blue tones, muted greens, and ochre-browns. Fiery, vibrant, an "impressionist" touch unifies the "skillful and precisely measured colors" required by the artist in this intimate work of small dimensions. Endowed with many charms, the "Dreamer" finely observed and spiritually well rendered" by A.-F. Bonnardel is part of the corpus of his "Studies" "of an intensity of expression and adorable finesse" which, with their dreamlike feminine titles, dotted the artistic career of this Lyonnais painter with an endearing personality* whose work we are rightly rediscovering. *For more details, see the biography accompanying our Notice relating to his painting entitled -L es Chrysanthèmes, oil on canvas, circa 1920-1930. Summary bibliography and printed sources: Bénézit, Emmanuel, Dictionary of French Painters, sculptors, designers and engravers, Grund, 1939, Volume I, p. 665; -Schurr, Gérald and Cabanne, Pierre, Les Petits Maîtres de la peinture, 1820-1920, Ed.de L'Amateur, 2014, p.137;- Le Passe-Temps, February 26, 1905, La Revue des Beaux-Arts, 1920-1926;-Journal des Arts, April 30, 1920, p. 2 Materials: Oil on canvas board; glass; molded and carved stuccoed wooden frame. Marks and Signatures: Signed, lower right: "AF Bonnardel". Undated. On the reverse, name and title label of the "Société Lyonnaise des Beaux-Arts". Dimensions: without frame: H.: 30 cm;-W.: 20 cm; With frame: H.: 41 cm;-W.: 30 cm. French school of painting from the end of the 19th-first half of the 20th century. Provenance: Exhibited at the Salon of the Société Lyonnaise des Fine Arts from 1920. Private collection. Very good condition.