Artwork
Woman Putting on Her Stockings
Woman Putting on Her Stockings is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Pierre Bonnard. It dates from 1897 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
By focusing on such a private moment, the composition suggests an interest in the subtle sensuality and quiet dignity of women’s everyday routines.
The painting shows a woman in the act of putting on a stocking, a mundane domestic gesture that Bonnard isolates with quiet attention. The scene is set in a modest interior where the figure is captured mid‑movement, emphasizing the ordinary rhythms of daily life. Bonnard rendered the work in oil on cardboard in 1893, a format and date confirmed by the sources.
By focusing on such a private moment, the composition suggests an interest in the subtle sensuality and quiet dignity of women’s everyday routines.
Technique & Style
Pierre Bonnard's Woman Putting on Her Stockings, created in 1893, is an oil painting executed on a cardboard support. The work measures 35.2 cm in height and 27 cm in width. As a painting from the artist's early period, it captures a domestic scene depicting a woman engaged in the act of dressing.
The use of cardboard as a support material for an oil painting reflects the practical choices often made by artists of this era, while the intimate scale suggests a focus on private, everyday moments characteristic of Bonnard's early style.
History & Provenance
Pierre Bonnard painted Woman Putting on Her Stockings in 1893 while working in France. The work is executed in oil on cardboard and measures 35.2 cm by 27 cm. It entered the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it remains on view. The painting’s creation history is documented through its date of inception, 1893‑01‑01, and its material composition, which includes oil paint applied to a cardboard support.
No records of a specific commission survive, and the ownership chain is limited to its current holding by the museum.
Woman Putting on Her Stockings is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, located in Cleveland. The work, created in 1893, is executed in oil paint on cardboard and measures 35.2 cm in height by 27 cm in width. While the piece is documented as part of the museum's holdings, the provided records do not list a specific inventory or accession number, nor do they detail any past or current exhibition history for this painting.
Overview
Pierre Bonnard's Woman Putting on Her Stockings, executed in 1897, captures an intimate domestic moment featuring a female figure viewed from behind as she bends to dress. The composition focuses tightly on the act of pulling up stockings, eliminating extraneous background details to emphasize the gesture and the interplay of light on the body. Bonnard employs a loose, sketchy technique characteristic of his early Nabi period, utilizing thick, visible brushstrokes that convey a sense of immediacy and movement.
The palette is dominated by warm ochres, browns, and reds, which unify the figure with the surrounding space, while darker tones define shadows and contours. This work exemplifies Bonnard's shift away from the flat, decorative stylization of his early career toward a more naturalistic yet painterly approach to the female nude in interior settings. Created during a prolific decade where the artist frequently depicted his partner Marthe de Méligny in private moments, the painting reflects his enduring interest in the psychology of the domestic sphere and the sensory experience of light and color.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Pierre Bonnard was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color.
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