The Red Cupboard 1939

Pierre Bonnard’s ‘The Red Cupboard’ is a party of reds, oranges, and yellows applied with a casual intimacy that feels deeply personal. Imagine Bonnard, in his studio, reaching for this colour, then that, and then shifting them around until the composition sings. I bet he was thinking a lot about light when he made this. How it bounces off the fruit on the shelf, the glassware, and the surface of the red cupboard itself. Look how he used that warm palette to create a sense of coziness and warmth. It is an invitation into a domestic space, but it's also a really compelling composition. The way the cupboard door is slightly ajar, as if someone has just stepped away, reminds me of the quiet moments in Vilhelm Hammershøi's paintings. Both artists were interested in exploring the beauty of the everyday, finding poetry in the mundane. Bonnard's painting is a reminder that art isn't about perfect representation; it's about capturing a feeling, an impression, an experience. And it is in the expression, that artists like Bonnard and Hammershøi find a place in our hearts and minds.