Family Scene

About this work

You see a small family in a room: a woman holds a baby, a man watches from the corner, and Bonnard himself peeks in at the bottom. This print is one of the first times Bonnard drew his sister and her newborn son. He cut off his own head and his sister’s skirt—like a snapshot, not a posed photo. The flat colors and bold lines feel more like a poster than a painting. Look up Japanese woodblock prints to see where this style came from.