Bonnard was a very private painter. For more than 50 years his subjects were confined to what was most familiar to him: his wife, his homes in Paris and the south of France, and places where he often stayed in Normandy. Sarah Whitfield, curator of the exhibition, discusses the legacy the symbolism of Bonnard's early years and the way in which his understanding of nature's endless cycle of change finds expression in the moving, elegiac paintings of his later period. Acclaimed art historian John Elderfield reveals for the first time the complexity of Bonnard's awareness of visual peter perception, and how crucial this is to fully comprehending his stature as a painter.

Every painting discussed is reproduced in color and accompanied by a number of preliminary that have not previously been seen beside the relevant paintings. John Elderfield is chief curator at large and deputy director for curatorial affairs at The Museum of Art and the author of many books on 20th-century art. Sarah Whitfield is an independent art historian.