Which of these twentieth-century painters was not Belgian?

The French artist Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) is one of the very few to develop a radically independent body of work. The great Henri Matisse called him a "singular and brave” painter.

His main inspirations were two: the postimpressionist painter Paul Gauguin and Japanese prints. His fascination for color has left us with spectacular pictures of intimate, domestic scenes, as well as French urban and country life.

Although Bonnard became a lawyer, he began to paint from a very young age. In 1888, he founded Les Nabis symbolist group (along with Édouard Vuillard, Maurice Denis, and others). The Nabis (which means “prophets” in Hebrew) were worshipers of Gauguin. In their manifesto, they declared their will to express a mystical truth that went beyond the visible world.

Later on, Bonnard abandoned the group to become a fiercely independent artist. His contributions are fundamental at a time when painting was undergoing a radical revolution through color.