Overall image of Bonnard oil painting and gilded frame

The White Cupboard

Original Language TitleLa Placard

Alternate TitleL'armoire blanche

Artist Pierre Bonnard (French, 1867 - 1947)

Date1931-1932

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsUnframed: 49 3/8 × 36 3/4 inches (125.41 × 93.35 cm)
Framed: 63 1/4 × 50 3/4 × 4 inches (160.66 × 128.91 × 10.16 cm)

Credit LineGift of Henry W. and Marion H. Bloch

Object number2015.13.1

SignedSigned lower right: Bonnard

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

European Art

Terms

DescriptionThis monumental vertical canvas depicts a view of a woman standing before a large, open cupboard in a domestic interior. The foreground of this steeply recessed space is comprised of a red and white table covering with a basket of fruit seen from above. Behind the table, a thin woman with short brown hair wearing a yellow sweater and long, pink striped skirt reaches into the shelves of the open hutch with her right arm. The background is dominated by the oversized white cupboard with a red interior, set against a yellow wall. The shelves in the hutch contain a few small unidentified objects; the doors of the lower compartments are open, one fully. At the top left, two light bulbs cast a blue aura. To the right of the figure are the glass-paned cupboard door and its grid-like shadow, below which sits a red upholstered chair. The palette is mainly bight red, yellow, and white with pink and blue accents. The paint layer is thin and almost wash-like in some areas, and built up in impasto in others, such as the skirt. The brushwork is varied and the forms are primarily constructed through planes of color rather than linear definition.

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Exposition Pierre Bonnard, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, June 15–23, 1933, no. 15, as Le Placard.

Les Maitres de l’Art Indépendant, 1895–1937, Petit Palais, Paris, June–October 1937, no. 18, as Le buffet.

Bonnard, Musée des Ponchettes, Nice, August–September 1955, no. 37, as L’armoire blanche.

Douze jeunes peintres autour de Bonnard, Palais de la Méditerranée, Nice, February 5–March 14, 1965, no. 9, as La Femme à l’armoire.

Bonnard, Galerie Krugier, Geneva, June 1969, no. 24, as L’armoire blanche.

The Bloch Collection, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June–August 1982, no cat.

Manet to Matisse: Impressionist Masters from the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 9–September 9, 2007, no. 29, as The White Cupboard (L’armoire blanche).

Magnificent Gifts for the 75th, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, February 11–April 4, 2010, no cat.

Bonnard’s Worlds, Kimbell Art Museum, November 5, 2023–January 28, 2024; The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, March 2–June 2, 2024.

Gallery Label

Primary colors (red, yellow, blue) and simple vertical and horizontal lines create this quiet domestic scene. Seen from the back, Pierre Bonnard’s wife, Marthe, arranges tableware in the cupboard. By composing the image as he did, Bonnard invited the viewer into his home and offered a place at his table. This sense of intimacy and warmth is characteristic of his work. Bonnard, a former attorney, painted with feeling and from memory, rather than seeking to reproduce faithfully what he saw.

Provenance

Purchased from the artist by Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, possibly stock no. 25375, Paris, possibly by June 15, 1933 [1];

Charles-Henri Pomaret (1897–1984) and Marie-Paule Fontenelle-Pomaret (1889–1975), Paris and Aix-en-Provence, by June 1937–1973 [2];

Purchased from the Pomarets by Wildenstein and Co., New York, stock no. 667, November 28, 1973–1979 [3];

Purchased from Wildenstein by Marion (née Helzberg, 1931–2013) and Henry (1922–2019) Bloch, Shawnee Mission, KS, April 30, 1979–June 15, 2015;

Their gift to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2015.

NOTES:

[1] Bonnard was under contract with Galerie Bernheim-Jeune from 1904 to 1940. Galerie Bernheim-Jeune may have purchased the painting as early as June 15, 1933, when an exhibition featuring it opened at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune. See Exposition Pierre Bonnard, exh. cat. (Paris: Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, 1933), 4.

A set of six-digit numbers on the verso, “25375,” is similar to Galerie Bernheim-Jeune stock numbers. Another painting in the collection of the Nelson-Atkins also has a Bernheim-Jeune stock number; Vincent van Gogh 37-1 was stock number “26801” and was owned by Galerie Bernheim-Jeune by December 1935. Since the Bonnard stock number 25375 precedes 26801, it was probably in the inventory of Galerie Bernheim-Jeune before 1935.

[2] Charles Pomaret was minister of labor in France from 1938 to 1940, and his wife, Marie-Paule Fontenelle-Pomaret, was the director of the art periodical La Renaissance and an avid art collector.

According to the 1973 catalogue raisonné, the painting was in a private collection in Aix-en-Provence. See Jean and Henry Dauberville, Bonnard: Catalogue Raisonne de l’Œuvre Peint, 1888–1905 (Paris: Éditions J et H. Bernheim-Jeune, 1973), no. 1476, p. 3:375. The private collectors are the Pomarets, who moved from Paris to Aix-en-Provence by 1946. See email from Joseph Baillio, Wildenstein, to MacKenzie Mallon, NAMA, May 4, 2015, NAMA curatorial files.

[3] For date of purchase, see email from Joseph Baillio, Wildenstein, to MacKenzie Mallon, NAMA, May 4, 2015, NAMA curatorial files.

Published References

Jacques Guenne, “Bonnard ou le bonheur de vivre,” L’Art Vivant, no. 176 (September 1933): 374–75, (repro.), as Le Placard.

Exposition Pierre Bonnard, exh. cat. (Paris: Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, 1933), (repro).

W[aldemar] G[eorge], “Défense et Illustration de la Bourgeoisie Française: Bonnard et la Douceur de Vivre,” Formes, no. 33 (1933): (repro.), as Le Placard [repr., in Formes: An International Review of Plastic Art, 1929–1933, vol. 6, No. 28–33, 1932–1933 (New York: Arno, 1971), (repro.), as Le Placard].

George Besson, Bonnard (Paris: Les Éditions Braun, 1934), unpaginated, (repro.), as L’armoire blanche.

Waldemar George, “L’art français et l’esprit de suite,” La Renaissance, nos. 3–4 (March–April 1937): 8, (repro.), as Le Placard.

Les maitres de l’art indépendant, 1895–1937, exh. cat. (Paris: Éditions Arts et Métiers Graphiques, 1937), 60, (repro.), as Le buffet.

“Seven Paintings by Pierre Bonnard,” Coronet 3, no. 4 (February 1, 1938): 23, (repro.), as The Cupboard.

Pierre Loeb, “Pierre Bonnard, peintre français,” L’Age Nouveau, no. 19 (March 1947): unpaginated, (repro.).

François-Joachim Beer, Pierre Bonnard (Marseille: Éditions Françaises d’Art, 1947), 103, (repro.), as L’armoire blanche.

Raymond Cogniat, Bonnard (Paris: Fernand Nathan, 1950), 38, (repro.), as L’armoire blanche.

Bonnard, exh. cat. (Nice: Musée des Ponchettes, 1955), 31, as L’armoire blanche.

Claude Roger -Marx, “Bonnard, peintre du Bonheur,” Illustration, no. 23 (March 1956): 74–75, (repro.), as L’armoire blanche.

Gerard Jarlot, “L’Affaire Bonnard,” Elle, no. 694 (April 3, 1959): 89, (repro.), as L’armoire blanche.

Douze jeunes peintres autour de Bonnard, exh. cat. (New York: Wildenstein, 1965), unpaginated, as La Femme à l’armoire.

Bonnard, exh. cat. (Geneva: Galerie Krugier, 1969), 19, 26, (repro.), as L’armoire blanche.

Jean and Henry Dauberville, Bonnard: Catalogue Raisonné de l’Œuvre Peint, 1920–1939 (Paris: Éditions Bernheim-Jeune, 1973), no. 1476, pp. 3:374–75, (repro.) as Le placard ou L’armoire blanche.

“The Bloch Collection,” Gallery Events (The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts) (June–August 1982): unpaginated.

Sasha M. Newman, ed., Bonnard: The Late Paintings, exh. cat. (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1984), 259, as L’Armoire blanche.

Donald Hoffmann, “Eileen Jagoda’s lyrical collages suffer from formless tenor,” Kansas City Star 105, no. 140 (March 3, 1985): 6F.

Michel Terrasse, Bonnard at Le Cannet (Paris: Herscher, 1987), 124, as Le placard ou l’armoire blanche.

Michel Terrasse, Bonnard: du dessin au tableau (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1996), 214–15, (repro.), as Le Placard blanc.

Rebecca Dimling Cochran and Bobbie Leigh, “100 Top Collectors who have made a difference,” Art and Antiques (March 2006): 90.

Bobbie Leigh, “Magnificent Obsession,” Art and Antiques 29, no. 6 (June 2006): 65, (repro.), as The White Cupboard.

Alice Thorson, “A final countdown—A rare showing of Impressionist paintings from the private collection of Henry and Marion Bloch is one of the inaugural exhibitions at the 165,000-square-foot glass-and-steel structure,” Kansas City Star (June 29, 2006): B1.

“Inaugural Exhibitions Celebrate Kansas City,” Member Magazine (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) (Fall 2006): 3.

Richard R. Brettell and Joachim Pissarro, Manet to Matisse: Impressionist Masters from the Marion and Henry Bloch Collection, exh. cat. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2007), 10, 12, 18, 146–49, 162, (repro.), as The White Cupboard (L’armoire blanche).

Alice Thorson, “A Tiny Renoir Began an Impressive Obsession,” Kansas City Star 127, no. 269 (June 3, 2007): E4, as The White Cupboard.

“Lasting Impressions: A Tribute to Marion and Henry Bloch,” Member Magazine (The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) (Fall 2007): 10–11, (repro.).

Steve Paul, “Pretty Pictures: Marion and Henry Bloch’s Collection of Superb Impressionist Masters,” Panache 4, no. 3 (Fall 2007): 20.

“A 75th Anniversary Celebrated with Gifts of 400 Works of Art,” Art Tattler International (February 2008): unpaginated, (repro.), as The White Cupboard (L’armoire blanche).

Alice Thorson, “Museum to Get 29 Impressionist Works from the Bloch Collection,” Kansas City Star (February 5, 2010): A1, as White Cupboard.

Carol Vogel, “Inside Art: Kansas City Riches,” New York Times 159, no. 54,942 (February 5, 2010): C26.

Alice Thorson, “Bloch: Nelson to receive impressionism collection,” Kansas City Star (February 7, 2010): G1, G2, The White Cupboard.

Alice Thorson, “Marc Wilson: The Nelson Years,” Kansas City Star (April 25, 2010): F2, (repro.), as L’armorie Blanche.

Thomas M. Bloch, Many Happy Returns: The Story of Henry Bloch, America’s Tax Man (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2011), 174–75, (repro.), as The White Cupboard.

Diane Stafford, “Bloch Gift to Go for Nelson Upgrade,” Kansas City Star 135, no. 203 (April 8, 2015): A8.

“Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Officially Accessions Bloch Impressionist Masterpieces,” Artdaily.org (July 25, 2015): http://artdaily.com/news/80246/Nelson-Atkins-Museum-of-Art-officially-accessions-Bloch-Impressionist-masterpieces#.V6oGwlKFO9I.

Julie Paulais, “Le Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art reçoit des tableaux impressionnistes en échange de leurs répliques, ” Le Journal des arts (July 30, 2015): http://www.lejournaldesarts.fr/site/archives/docs_article/129801/le-nelson-atkins-museum-of-art-recoit-des-tableaux-impressionnistes-en-echange-de-leurs-repliques.php.

Josh Niland, “The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Acquires a Renowned Collection of Impressionist and Postimpressionist Art,” architecturaldigest.com (August 6, 2015): https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/nelson-atkins-museum-accessions-bloch-art-collection.

Nina Siegal, “Upon Closer Review, Credit Goes to Bosch,” New York Times 165, no. 57130 (February 2, 2016): C5.

“Nelson-Atkins to unveil renovated Bloch Galleries of European Art in winter 2017,” Artdaily.org (July 20, 2016): http://artdaily.com/news/88852/Nelson-Atkins-to-unveil-renovated-Bloch-Galleries-of-European-Art-in-winter-2017-#.W-NDepNKhaQ.

“Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art celebrates generosity of Henry Bloch with new acquisition,” Artdaily.org (October 18, 2016): http://artdaily.com/news/90923/Nelson-Atkins-Museum-of-Art-celebrates-generosity-of-Henry-Bloch-with-new-acquisition#.W-NDv5NKhaQ.

Catherine Futter et al., Bloch Galleries: Highlights from the Collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2016), 121, (repro.), as The White Cupboard.

Kelly Crow, “Museum Rewards Donor with Fake Art to Hang at Home,” Wall Street Journal (January 25, 2017): https://www.wsj.com/articles/museum-rewards-donor-with-fake-art-to-hang-at-home-1485370768, (repro.), as The White Cupboard.

David Frese, “Bloch savors paintings in redone galleries,” Kansas City Star 137 (February 25, 2017): 1A.

Albert Hect, “Henry Bloch’s Masterpieces Collection to Go on Display at Nelson-Atkins Museum,” Jewish Business News (February 26, 2017): http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2017/02/26/henry-bloch-masterpieces-collection/.

David Frese, “Inside the Bloch Galleries: An interactive experience,” Kansas City Star 137, no. 169 (March 5, 2017), 1D, 4D, (repro.), as White Cupboard.

“Editorial: Thank you, Henry and Marion Bloch,” Kansas City Star (March 7, 2017): http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article137040948.html, [repr., in “Thank you, Henry and Marion Bloch,” Kansas City Star 137, no. 172 (March 8, 2017): 16A].

Hampton Stevens, “(Not Actually) 12 Things To Do During The Big 12 Tournament,” Flatland: KCPT’s Digital Magazine (March 9, 2017): http://www.flatlandkc.org/arts-culture/sports/not-actually-12-big-12-tournament/.

Laura Spencer, “The Nelson-Atkins’ Bloch Galleries feature Old Masterworks and New Technology,” KCUR (March 10, 2017): http://kcur.org/post/nelson-atkins-bloch-galleries-feature-old-masterworks-and-new-technology#stream/0, (repro.).

Victoria Stapley–Brown, “Nelson-Atkins Museum’s new European art galleries come with a ‘love story’,” Art Newspaper (March 10, 2017): http://theartnewspaper.com/news/museums/nelson-atkins-museum-s-new-european-art-galleries-come-with-a-love-story/.

Harry Bellet, “Don du ciel pour le Musée Nelson-Atkins,” Le Monde (March 13, 2017): http://www.lemonde.fr/arts/article/2017/03/13/don-du-ciel-pour-le-musee-nelson-atkins_5093543_1655012.html, as White wardrobe.

Menachem Wecker, “Jewish Philanthropist Establishes Kansas City as Cultural Mecca,” Forward (March 14, 2017): http://forward.com/culture/365264/jewish-philanthropist-establishes-kansas-city-as-cultural-mecca/, [repr., in Menachem Wecker, “Kansas City Collection Is A Chip Off the Old Bloch,” Forward (March 17, 2017): 20-22].

Juliet Helmke, “The Bloch Collection Takes up Residence in Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum,” BoulinArtInfo International (March 15, 2017): http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2005267/the-bloch-collection-takes-up-residence-in-kansascitys.

Erich Hatala Matthes, “Digital replicas are not soulless—they help us engage with art,” Apollo (March 23, 2017): https://www.apollo-magazine.com/digital-replicas-3d-printing-original-artworks/.

Louise Nicholson, “How Kansas City got its magnificent museum,” Apollo (April 7, 2017): https://www.apollo-magazine.com/how-kansas-city-got-its-magnificent-museum/.

Lilly Wei, “Julián Zugazagoitia: ‘Museums should generate interest and open a door that leads to further learning,’” Studio International (August 21, 2017): http://studiointernational.com/index.php/julian-zugazagoitia-director-nelson-atkins-museum-of-art-kansas-city-interview.

Robert D. Hershey Jr., “Henry Bloch, H&R Block’s cofounder, dies at 96,” Boston Globe (April 23, 2019): https://www3.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2019/04/23/henry-bloch-block-cofounder/?arc404=true.

Robert D. Hershey Jr., “Henry W. Bloch, Tax-Preparation Pioneer (and Pitchman), Is Dead at 96,” New York Times (April 23, 2019): https://www3.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2019/04/23/henry-bloch-block-cofounder/?arc404=true.

Claire Selvin, “Henry Wollman Bloch, Collector and Prominent Benefactor of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Is Dead at 96,” ArtNews (April 23, 2019): http://www.artnews.com/2019/04/23/henry-bloch-dead-96/.

Eric Adler and Joyce Smith, “Henry Bloch, co-founder of H&R Block, dies at 96,” Kansas City Star 139, no. 219 (April 24, 2019): 1A.

“Henry Wollman Bloch (1922–2019),” Art Forum (April 24, 2019): https://www.artforum.com/news/henry-wollman-bloch-1922-2019-79547.

Frank Morris, “Henry Bloch, Co-Founder Of H&R Block, Dies At 96,” npr.org (April 24, 2019): https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716641448/henry-bloch-co-founder-of-h-r-block-dies-at-96.

Ignacio Villarreal, “Nelson-Atkins mourns loss of Henry Bloch,” ArtDaily.org (April 24, 2019): http://artdaily.com/news/113035/Nelson-Atkins-mourns-loss-of-Henry-Bloch#.XMB76qR7laQ.

Eric Adler and Joyce Smith, “H&R Bloch co-founder, philanthropist Bloch dies,” Cass County Democrat Missourian 140, no. 29 (April 26, 2019): 1A

Eric Adler and Joyce Smith, “KC businessman and philanthropist Henry Bloch dies,” Lee’s Summit Journal 132, no. 79 (April 26, 2019): 3A.

Luke Nozicka, “Family and friends remember Henry Bloch of H&R Block,” Kansas City Star 139, no. 225 (April 30, 2019): 4A [repr., Kansas City Star 139, no. 228 (May 3, 2019): 3A].

Eric Adler, “Sold for $3.25 million, Bloch’s home in Mission Hills may be torn down,” Kansas City Star 141, no. 90 (December 16, 2020): 2A.

Guy-Patrice and Floriane Dauberville, Bonnard: 2e Supplément, Catalogue Raisonné de l’Œuvre Peint (Paris: Editions G-P. F. Dauberville and Archives Bernheim-Jeune, 2021), 140, (repro).

George T. M. Shackelford, Bonnard’s Worlds, exh. cat. (Fort Worth: Kimbell Art Museum, 2023), 86, 88, 169–72, 251, (repro.), as The White Cupboard.

Brigid M. Boyle, “Pierre Bonnard, The White Cupboard, 1931–1932,” catalogue entry in French Paintings and Pastels, 1600–1945: The Collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, ed. Aimee Marcereau DeGalan (Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2024), https://doi.org/10.37764/78973.5.706.5407.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.