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The
Terrace at Vernon can be considered either the second or the last of
the three great works showing the terrace and garden vista at Pierre Bonnards
Normandy home, Ma Roulotte. Although Bonnard began this composition in 1920,
he did not completely resolve it until many years later, finishing it in
1939, after he moved definitively to the south of France. Even then, the
painting must have held a particular fascination for the artist, as it remained
in his studio at the time of his death in 1947. It has been suggested that
this work was Bonnards meditation on his relationships with two women.
The figure at center holding an apple may be Marthe de Méligny, his
longtime mistress and wife as of 1925, while the figure rushing in from
the right can be compared to Renée Monchaty, his lover for a brief
period who committed suicide in 1925. |
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