Editing Pierre Bonnard (section)

==Early career – the Nabis==
Bonnard received pressure from a different direction to continue painting. While he had received his license to practice law in 1888, he failed in the examination for entering the official registry of lawyers.<ref name="Cogeval9">Cogeval (2015), p. 9</ref> Art was his only option. After the summer holidays, he joined with his friends from the Academy Julian to form [[Les Nabis]], an informal group of artists with different styles and philosophies but common artistic ambitions. As he later wrote, Bonnard was entirely unaware of the Impressionist painters, or of Gauguin and other new painters.<ref name="Cogeval9" /> His friend [[Paul Sérusier]] showed him a painting on a wooden cigar box he made after visiting [[Paul Gauguin]] at Pont-Aven, using patches of pure color in the style of Gauguin. In 1890, Maurice Denis, at age twenty, formalized the doctrine in which a painting was considered "a surface plane covered with colors assembled in a certain order."<ref>Cogeval (2015), p. 10</ref>

Some of the Nabis had highly religious, philosophical or mystical approaches to their paintings, but Bonnard remained more cheerful and unaffiliated. The painter-writer Aurelien Lugné-Poe, who shared a studio at 28 rue Pigalle with Bonnard and Vuillard, wrote later, "Pierre Bonnard was the humorist among us; his nonchalant gaiety, and humor expressed in his productions, of which the decorative spirit always preserved a sort of satire, from which he later departed."<ref>Cited in Cogeval (2015), p. 11</ref>

In 1891, he met [[Toulouse-Lautrec]] and, in December 1891, showed his work at the annual exhibition of the [[Société des Artistes Indépendants]]. In the same year, Bonnard also began an association with ''[[La Revue Blanche]]'', for which he and [[Édouard Vuillard]] designed a [[Book frontispiece|frontispiece]].<ref>Brodskaya, 42</ref> In March 1891, his work was displayed with the work of the other Nabis at the Le Barc de Boutteville.<ref name="Cogeval148"/>

The style of Japanese graphic arts became an important influence on Bonnard. In 1893, a major exposition of works of [[Utamaro]] and [[Hiroshige]] was held at the Durand-Ruel Gallery, and the Japanese influence, particularly the use of multiple points of view, and the use of bold geometric patterns in clothing, such as checkered blouses, began to appear in his work. Because of his passion for Japanese art, his nickname among the Nabis became ''Le Nabi le trés japonard.''<ref name="Cogeval148"/>

He devoted an increasing amount of attention to decorative art, designing furniture, fabrics, fans and other objects. He continued to design posters for France-Champagne, which gained him an audience outside the art world. In 1892, he began creating lithographs, and painted ''Le Corsage a carreaux'' and ''La Partie de croquet''. He also made a series of illustrations for the music books of his brother-in-law, [[Claude Terrasse]].

In 1894, he turned in a new direction and made a series of paintings of scenes of the life of Paris. In his urban scenes, the buildings and even animals were the focus of attention; faces were rarely visible. He also made his first portrait of his future wife, Marthe, whom he married in 1925.<ref name="Cogeval148"/> In 1895, he became an early participant of the movement of [[Art Nouveau]], designing a stained glass window, called ''Maternity'', for [[Tiffany & Co.|Tiffany]].<ref name="Cogeval148"/>

In 1895, he had his first individual exposition of paintings, posters and lithographs at the Durand-Ruel Gallery. He also illustrated a novel, ''Marie'', by [[Peter Nansen]], published in series by in ''La Revue Blanche''. The following year he participated in a group exposition of Nabis at the Amboise Vollard Gallery. In 1899, he took part in another major exposition of works of the Nabis.<ref name="Cogeval148"/>

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Pierre Bonnard - Women with Dog, 1891.jpg|''Women with a Dog'' (1891), [[Clark Art Institute]].  The checked blouse was inspired by Japanese prints.
File:LE CORSAGE À CARREAUX.JPG|''Checkered Blouse'' (1892), a portrait of his sister Andrée Terrasse, with her cat
File:Fairground Sideshow (Parade) by Pierre Bonnard.JPG|''The Parade'' (1892), one of several colorful paintings of Paris street performers
File:Two Dogs in a Deserted Street, Pierre Bonnard, c1894.jpg|''Two Dogs in a Deserted Street'' (1894), oil on canvas, [[National Gallery of Art]]
File:Pierre Bonnard, 1895 - L'Omnibus.jpg|''The Omnibus'' (1895)
File:'Dancers' by Pierre Bonnard.jpg|''Dancers'' (1896)
</gallery>