This small oil painting is typical of the still lifes which, together with scenes of everyday life, form the core of Bonvin’s art. His still lifes often include objects associated with a particular profession. The two coins and what might be a ledger book suggest bookkeeping is the profession here. Inkwells, quill pens, books and papers all appear in the pictures of schoolboys, often working at their desks, which Bonvin painted between 1873 and 1879 (the period when this picture was painted), but the spectacles imply an adult is using the items we see here.
Bonvin’s paintings recall those of Chardin in the previous century, but also show his familiarity with seventeenth-century Dutch and Spanish painting. This picture is unusual as it is painted on zinc, but the carefully modulated lighting and subtle use of warm complementary colours are characteristic of Bonvin.
This small oil painting is typical of the still lifes which, together with genre scenes of everyday life, formed the core of Bonvin’s art, although in later life he also painted landscapes such as The Meadow. His still lifes often include objects associated with a particular profession. The two coins and what might be a ledger book suggest bookkeeping is the profession here. Inkwells, quill pens, books and papers all appear in pictures of schoolboys, often working at their desks, which Bonvin painted between 1873 and 1879 (the period when this still life was completed), but the spectacles imply an adult is using the items we see here.
Bonvin’s paintings recall those of Chardin in the previous century, but also show his familiarity with seventeenth-century Dutch and Spanish painting. This picture is unusual as it is painted on zinc, but the carefully modulated lighting and subtle use of warm complementary colours are characteristic of Bonvin.
