Bonnard was a man of serious intellect, politically and artistically connected to his times. Almost shockingly, he did not normally paint in front of the subject

Pierre Bonnard has always been highly regarded, and yet never, quite, in the top league.

But Bonnard is having a moment with exhibitions at Tate Modern and the National Museum in Stockholm .

Bonnard shunned publicity and lived most of his life in seclusion with his wife and muse, Marthe .

Pierre Bonnard was painting nothing less than time and the human condition.

He creates plunging viewpoints, visual ambiguities and distortions to disrupt the viewer.

Isabelle Cahn says he is an equivalent of Marcel Proust , who wrote: “Style is a revelation of a private universe which each one of us sees and which is not seen by others”.