Child and Cats

A girl sits holding a cat in front of a dining table covered with a white tablecloth. The table, the cat and the girl form a single cluster, creating a triangular composition that is wide at the bottom and narrows toward the top, which gives the picture stability.

Horizontal lines such as the edge of the table cross the vertical lines of the girl and the bottle, giving the picture a firm framework. The fruit at the lower right is cut off at the edge of the picture, giving a sense of a photographic snapshot. This way of cropping is said to have been learned from ukiyo-e.

The whole is unified in gentle tones, but vivid colors are inserted here and there, tightening the picture. Even on the white table, the color changes little by little depending on how the light falls.

Pierre Bonnard, who liked to paint familiar interiors and family scenes, is called an Intimist. This work of about 1906 well shows his skill in elevating casual everyday scenes into painting, and it is housed in the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art.