Shanghai hosts a master class in French art

Georges Bemberg (1915-2011) was born in Argentina and grew up in Paris. An avid lover of art and beauty, Bemberg bought his first artwork, a painting by Camille Pissarro, when he was a student at Harvard University.

Bemberg accumulated one of the largest private art collections in Europe, including paintings, drawings, and bronzes dating from the Renaissance to the 20th century. He was particularly drawn to the artists of the modern French schools, and especially liked the works of Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), an artist that took an important position in the development of art history.

Bonnard was a founding member of Les Nabis, meaning the Prophets. The group is part of the Symbolist school that abandoned three-dimensional modeling in favor of flat color areas. Bonnard however was not interested in the obscure and mystic Symbolist subjects. Instead he was fascinated by the scenes of daily life, for which he has been called an Intimist.