Petit solfège illustré

Label TextFrench artist Pierre Bonnard tried to enter the lucrative business of illustrating sheet music covers in the 1890s. Although unsuccessful, this effort inspired him to collaborate with his brother-in-law, the composer and teacher Claude Terrasse, on a music theory book for children. The result was Bonnard’s first illustrated book, Petit solfège illustré. Bonnard worked on the designs while he was visiting his sister and her husband Terrasse in the little town of Arcachon in France. His sister’s family and the town became the models for many of the images. The lithographs, painted with brush and ink, were also influenced by Japanese art. Although Terrasse’s text was dry, Bonnard’s illustrations were amusing and inventive in keeping with their intended audience.Published Referencescf. Terrasse, Antoine, Pierre Bonnard, Illustrator: a Catalogue raisonné, New York, 1988, no. 6, repr.

cf. Cate, Phillip Dennis, et al., Prints Abound: Paris in the 1890s; from the Collections of Virginia and Ira Jackson and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2000, no. 104.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books from Toulouse-Lautrec to Kiefer, 1985, no.5

Toledo Museum of Art, The Artist and the Printer, 1994--1995 (no cat.)

Toledo Museum of Art, Splendid Pages: The Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books, Feb. 14-May 11, 2003

Toledo Museum of Art, Strong Sensations: Impressionism and Symbolist Works on Paper, 1860-1900, April 23-June 20, 2010 (no cat.).