The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 26, 2025

Announcement of a Birth

1898

Pierre Bonnard

(French, 1867–1947)
France, 19th century
color lithograph
Sheet: 15.8 x 12 cm (6 1/4 x 4 3/4 in.); Image: 15.8 x 12 cm (6 1/4 x 4 3/4 in.)
Gift of Louise S. Richards 1991.248
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Catalogue raisonné: Bouvet 54
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Color lithography, the medium used for this print, was among the newest printmaking techniques available to artists during the 1890s.

Description

Pierre Bonnard created this lithograph to announce the birth of Marie-Louise, the daughter of André Mellerio. Mellerio was an influential art critic who wrote about the artists of his own time and, especially, the importance of color lithography—a medium that Bonnard experimented with in the 1890s. The intimate print features a close-up view of the infant's face alongside abstract patterning that featured prominently in Bonnard's art at this time.
  • ?-1991
    Louise S. Richards, Oberlin, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    1991-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Private Lives: Home and Family in the Art of the Nabis, Paris, 1889–1900. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (July 1-September 19, 2021).
  • {{cite web|title=Announcement of a Birth|url=false|author=Pierre Bonnard|year=1898|access-date=26 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1991.248