PIERRE BONNARD (1867-1947) FRANCE-CHAMPAGNE. 1891. 31 1/4x23 3/4 inches, 79 1/2x60 cm. Ancourt & Cie., Paris. Condition B+ / B: repaired tears, abrasions, skinning and restoration in margins and image; restored losses at edges; vertical and horizontal folds. Japan. It is easy to use the expression "revolutionary" in regard to a work of art; in the case of Bonnard's France-Champagne that term is entirely accurate. Bonnard was an unknown twenty-four year old artist at the time. And yet "he was the first to use techniques drawn from Japanese prints in the world of advertising" (Maitres 1900 p. 44). Not only did the poster incorporate Japanese techniques into Western style, but perhaps more importantly, "it so delighted Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec that he pointed it out with his stick to passers-by, and promptly announced his intention to his own hand at poster making . . . One can see how France-Champagne must have stood out amongst the gaudy posters of Jules Cheret, by virtue not only of its ingenious composition and bold distortions, but also its use of flowing lettering in free brushwork to contrast with the printed legend, and, above all, its restricted range of color and subtle effects of black against the background. In 1908 [the art critic Octave] Mirbeau pinpointed the importance of this poster . . . 'The first poster-print since Daumier to burst triumphantly onto the walls of Paris, a complete departure from the prettily coloured effusions of Cheret, France-Champagne, now unobtainable . . . brought about a revival of the art of lithography--which Toulouse-Lautrec was to develop to such a degree of sophistication and skill' " (Bouvet p. 5). "What is remarkable about the work of both artists [Toulouse-Lautrec and Bonnard] is the way they appropriated essential formal devices of Japanese prints with flat color surfaces, asymmetrical cropped compositions and flowing outlines, but transformed them into art very much their own of their time" (Modern Poster p. 46). Bouvet 1, DFP-II 76, Modern Poster 6, Word & Image p. 27, Maindron p. 40, Weill 42, Wine Spectator 57, Drink 81.
