Poster Pierre Bonnard - White Cat, 1894

Pierre Bonnard (1867 - 1947)
White Cat, 1894
Oil on cardboard. H. 51,9 ; L. 33,5 cm.
Purchase, 1982
© GrandPalaisRmn (musée d'Orsay) / Franck Raux

Here, Bonnard uses distortion to create a humorous image of this cat arching its back. A strange animal, exaggeratedly arched on its paws, with its head...

Pierre Bonnard (1867 - 1947)
White Cat, 1894
Oil on cardboard. H. 51,9 ; L. 33,5 cm.
Purchase, 1982
© GrandPalaisRmn (musée d'Orsay) / Franck Raux

Here, Bonnard uses distortion to create a humorous image of this cat arching its back. A strange animal, exaggeratedly arched on its paws, with its head drawn down into its shoulders, eyes like slits and a cunning expression. It seems both tame and wild.
The painter spent a long time deciding on the shape and the position of the paws, as can be seen in the preparatory drawings. The x-ray of this work also reveals many changes, some of which are actually visible to the naked eye. "Art is not nature" he used to say, to the extent that his White Cat has become almost a caricature, "a comical and humorous image created through the genius of its master who observed and understood it so well" (Elisabeth Foucart-Walter).

© GrandPalaisRmnCréations, Paris 2026.