Model In Backlight was made by the painter Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) for his wife Marte when he was 40 years old. The human bodies painted by Bonnard were mostly under in backlight. The window screen, interlining, mirror and projection were either beautiful or brilliant, either deep or out. The loess tone and cold purple tone were more chiseled under the contrast of projection. Like Degas, Bonnard did not paint the posing nude in the studio, but drew the naked female in the natural state to express the joy of life. Model In Backlight made in 1908 vividly expressed that in the interior with sunshine and air, the nude stood in backlight, whose plump and healthy body reflected the dazzling color. using the fine brushwork similar to stippling with no shadow made the entire painting filled with light and bright sense of color. The light and color were interwoven into a rhythmic ensemble. He had a delicate and keen perception of color images and all of his paintings were not independent of each other and had no difference, but the fusion composed of the color and shape of harmonious warm body, thereby creating a pure painting sense of visual pleasure. Bonnard's works were a colorful world composed of colors, so he had the title of “magician of color” and called the Nabis’s (Chinese translation for “prophet”) representative.
Model in Backlight
In the oil painting, the wife stood naked and the sunlight casted her body through bright windows, like the beautiful and vigorous ancient Greek statues. The mirror on the left side of the painting reflected the wife's posture, although some fuzzy, it still showed a family life. The artist used fibrillation and concise small strokes to depict the backlight indoor feeling, making the colors of the whole painting more vivid.
