Estate of the Artist
Mlle Bowers, Paris
Victor Waddington, London
Mr & Mrs Peter O'Toole, Great Britain (acquired from the above in 1970; sale: Sotheby's, London, 28th June 1988, lot 38)
Private Collection, London (purchased at the above sale)
Acquavella Galleries, New York (acquired in 1989)
Acquired circa 1990s (sale: Christie's, New York, 9th November 2006, lot 307)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Marseille, Musée Cantini, Bonnard, 1967, no. 7, illustrated in the catalogue
London, Victor Waddington, Bonnard, 1970, no. 6, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Yann Le Pichon, 'Bonnard', Elle, 9th April 1967, illustrated in colour pp. 140-141
Jean & Henri Dauberville, Bonnard, Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint, Paris, 1974, vol. IV, no. 01895, illustrated in colour p. 251

The cradled panel is sound. UV examination reveals a few horizontal lines and associated spots of retouching to the lower third of the work, and a further horizontal line and two small spots of retouching to the upper right corner. Otherwise, this work is in overall good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Bonnard's earliest depictions of Parisian streets date from the 1890s, and in 1895 the artist produced an album of lithographs on the theme of the city and its inhabitants, titled Quelques aspects de la vie de Paris. The spectacle of urban modernity provided a colourful source of inspiration, and the artist was fascinated by the variety of subjects it offered, including street sellers, elegant bourgeois ladies, old-fashioned and modern modes of transport, and urban architecture. Returning to this subject throughout his career, Bonnard's city scenes reflect a certain joie de vivre achieved through the use of bright tones and a strong sense of energy and movement. In the early years of the twentieth century, Bonnard divided his time between his Paris studio and the coꦉuntryside in Normandy, where he usually spent the summers, and his art became increasingly polarized between the passing show of urban life, and the intimacy and stillness of the Normandy interiors.

Painted circa 1906, Dans la rue, deux figures depicts two figures set against the backdrop of a busy Parisian street scene. People, whether the central element or a smaller part of the composition, were what drove Bonnard's work. While he was drawn more and more to life in the countryside, he returned to the city for its busy streets and urban scenes of everyday life. Nicholas Watkins discusses this pull towards the city, arguing that 'it was the human dimension that brought him back to the city [...] He placed emphasis on people, not architecture. In his view of the city's inhabitants, he adopted the Olympian detachment of a benign flâneur, leisurely enjoying the spectacle of their comings and goings [...] Dramatic close-ups are employed to feature the people passing in the foreground, but there is not drama [...] The drama lies in the general perception of the heroism of modern life' (Nicholas Watkins, Bonnard, London, 1994, p. 93).

Bonnard shared his fascination with the city with a number of Impressionist and post-Impressionist artists, and in choosing this subject matter he drew on the Modern tradition of depicting the busy streets and cafés of the French capital. Gustave Caillebotte, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro all executed a number of works depicting Parisian boulevards, squares and bridges, usually characterised by a sense of rich and varied life of the city. Gustave Geffroy commented that 'no-one is quicker than Bonnard to seize the look of our Parisian streets, the silhouettes of a passer-by and the patch of color which stands out in the Metropolitan mist. [He] seizes on all the momentary phenomena of the street, even the most fugitive glances are caught and set down' (Gustave Geffroy, in Pierre Bonnard (exhibition catalogu🦹e), Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1996, p. 1❀6).