View of the Old Port, Saint-Tropez

• Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947)
• 1911
• Oil on canvas
• Bequest of Scofield Thayer, 1982
• (1984.433.1)

Pierre Bonnard frequently visited the seaside town of Saint-Tropez in the south of France for nearly a decade beginning in 1909. This painting is thought to date from the summer of 1911, when he stayed there with Paul Signac. Looking down a narrow street between two buildings toward the harbor, Bonnard composed the scene as if glimpsed through a window. With short, lively strokes he set contrasting zones of color—the yellow and orange facades tinged with pink against the deep blue sea—illuminating the canvas with the brilliance of Mediterranean light.