Cadeaux de la France

I received an email from celui qui apprécie Ellie Bogardus art. The daughter of a collector wrote asking whether I would like photographs of several painting her mother and father had collected. I will post them when they arrive, and hopefully some more background about them. Following is the nice message from the daughter of the collector:

Hi, I don't know how to reach you other than by commenting. I found you by Googling Ellie Bogardus. Mom & dad collected some paintings (as much as possible on a HS teacher's salary). I'm helping mom move to San Diego and we're packing her artwork for the trip. She has a large Bogardus (The Shopkeeper's Cat, I believe it's called - very Matisse-like and joyous) and a few smaller ones. Would you like to see photos, and if so, to whom should I email them? [edited personal information] Mom and dad used to rent the Rosenlieb's house, which was across the street from Ellie's, and they became friends.

I was going through the list of blogs I have posted, and saw several that still needed to be posted. They are a mix of various random topics, and some photographs of birds that have not been identified. Since all of my birding books have been and still are in storage with the rest of our household items, its will still be a little while until they are unpacked after the boxes are delivered next week to our new home.

The following is by Justine Bonnard, daughter of Ellie's husband Jean-Marie. Her brother Mathias has been invaluable in filling in pieces of information from decades earlier, and for access to his father's and Ellie's art. The narrative below was begun better than a year ago - maybe two, and finished today.

Justine Bonnard's Silly Beast

When I was driving home from work today [Beltsville to Annapolis, MD], I was thinking of how busy I have been with travel and the frantic pace in the office, and how I have hardly put any effort into coming up with new ideas to blog. (1) This week I received another Ellie Bogardus painting by email (see the earlier [previous blog]). The French connection to the Bonnard family has turned up a pretty good collection that has been posted. Add to these the ones from northern, central, and southern California, as well as New Jersey.

When I Google'd the Silly Beast animation by Justine Bonnard, I came up with both the storyboard version (A), and the final product (B) that I had seen before. A set of drawings for the chicken in the animation shows a bit more of the detail that goes into the preparation for an animation.

Much more detail about the animation and artist can be found by clicking here.

I have pointed out before, the artistic linage - in avian idiom terms, birds of a feather, flock together, is impressive. This compilation almost amounts to an artist guild to itself. Given my interest in birding, it is no wonder that I have an affinity for them as well.
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(1) Blog can be a verb, just like putting an "ing" at the end of curry to make it a verb. Tonight when we went to the Chinese restaurant that seems to be the best in Annapolis, I saw a sign beside the door that read, "We are now currying Chinese broccoli."

Letters From France - More About Artist Ellie Bogardus

Late this last year, I was fortunate to connect with nice folks in France who knew Ellie Bogardus. As I wrote earlier, I was on a quest to find copies of her art work. As it turned out, by using her name in my blog, I ended up getting copies of her work and more when I heard from people in Los Angeles and France who knew her or were friends of others who did, and the rest is art history. I have compiled my emails with the Bonnard family in France - these give some more glimpses of details about the artist.

J.M. Bonnard Drawing - Coast House on Nottingham Drive (demolished)

(Received some time in November) Hi Jeff, I received your messages on the site of my sister Justine. I am very pleased that there are new pictures of Ellie in your blog. I had a job that I was delayed, but in the days come, I will send you the pictures. Paintings of 1964-1967(?). Your drawings are nice, and I am happy to see the house Ellie in 1995. I also send you pictures of the house, in years 60's. I hope you are well, too. See you soon, Mathias PS: My blog will soon be translated into English. I would be happy that you can read it. 

Friday, November 25, 2011 11:00:46 AM Please help, again. Justine, I must have deleted my earlier emails with Mathius, so don't have his current email address. Would you please send it to me again? Also, I found a couple of sketches I made (I am not an artist) 25 years ago of Ellie's house at the ocean in Cambria. The first is a perspective of the front of the house facing the road away from the ocean. The second is a very rough drawing of the characters on the south-facing exterior wall. From my sketch, it looks like that part of the house had a flat roof, so Ellie's exterior "canvas" was a rectangle. My wife knows where our box of miscellaneous slides are that may have images of the house. Those were the pre-digital days, so I didn't take many frivolous shots back then. My apologies to you and Mathius for being so slow to dig into the archives - my work schedule has be very hectic, but I am in a four-day holiday, so am making this a priority. Jeff  

26/11/11 00:41 Re: Please help, again. Justine, Please also pass on the attached photograph that was taken in 1995. This is Ellie's house. I dug through boxes of old photographs, and was only able to find this one. Notice the mailbox in front of the house is built to look like a cat. Also, earlier this wee I received a message from a woman in Los Angeles, who happens to be an animation instructor at the University of Southern California, and she and her husband have just acquired a collection of Ellie's paintings. You can view the paintings at my blog:  http://blueskiesinannapolis.blogspot.com/2011/11/ellie-bogardus-hotel-california.html Please let Mathius know I look forward to hearing from him. Thanks for your help. Jeff

Dec 12/04/11 1:34 PM Hi Jeff! Sorry for my late answer, I'm not often on this email. My official address is jbonnard@wanadoo.fr That of Mathias is mbonnard2@wanadoo.fr I sent your two messages to Mathias. And I want to thank you for your article on my work. Glad you like it :))) I love your sketches and the photography of the house of Ellie. I am touched to see this house. It is identical to my memory. This trip to California marked me for life. I loved this place. And I'm sad it was destroyed. And glad to see all these Elli's paintings. It's very interesting because the paintings we have are very different. They don't date from the same period. Have a good day! Justine 

Le 4 déc. 2011 à 19:57: Justine, I just sent you the images of the paintings and the photograph of Ellie's house to your other email. Thanks for your reply. Jeff 

Dec 12/04/11 1:02 PM I had good reception! The colors of the paintings ellie, painted in the 1970s, are more free than the paintings of the 1960s. See you soon, and soon, Mathias! PS: For your blog, I would look.

Dec 12/04/11 2:16 PM Great!! Thank you  :) There is a resemblance to Matisse in his paintings. I think. I hope that Mathias will send you soon pictures of paintings we have. See you soon. Justine 

Dec 12/04/11 10:57 AM Hi Jeff, I received your messages on the site of my sister Justine. I am very pleased that there are new pictures of Ellie in your blog. I had a job that I was delayed, but in the days come, I will send you the pictures. Paintings of 1964-1967(?). Your drawings are nice, and I am happy to see the house Ellie in 1995. I also send you pictures of the house, in years 60's. I hope you are well, too. See you soon, Mathias. PS: My blog will soon be translated into English. I would be happy that you can read it.

Le 4 déc. 11 à 18:47, jeff_steiner@comcast.net a écrit: Mathius, I hope all of the images I sent got through to you. There were 12 paintings, and one photograph of the house from 1985. Let me know if you want any other images that appear on my blog. Jeff

Dec 12/10/11 5:01 PM Hi Jeff ! Finally, the pictures of Ellie Bogardus, and my Father. Hi Jeff! Here are pictures of Ellie Bogardus: There are 09 pictures of Ellie. The paintings were made between 1964 and 1967. The paintings are dated 1967, because

J.M. Bonnard - Self Portrait

Ellie had come to France in 1990 or 1991. The paintings were not signed before his trip to France. There are 06 paintings by Jean-Marie Bonnard (Father). Paintings made at the same time. There are 01 painting by FRED PENNEY. A Portrait of My Father. A painter and neighbor of Ellie and my Father in Cambria in the sixties. I hope you are well. You can put them on your BLOG, no problem! See you soon, Mathias. PS: I also send pictures of Ellie's house in the 60's. In my Father's house there are other pictures of Ellie, but they are not hanging on the walls. These paintings are in attics. I photograph them too. (If you have a problem with the names of the JPEG files or the ZIP files, tell me. I could not use my usual email. If you have problems, use "mbonnard2@wanadoo.fr") 

Sunday, December 11, 2011 4:56:50 AM Hi, Jeff ! Yesterday, I sent you an address "hotmail" paints pictures of Ellie. I hope you have received. With this address "Wanadoo" my message is not starting. If you have not received anything, tell me! See you soon, Mathias.

Dec 12/11/11 11:22 AM I'm glad you received everything! The URL address of my blog is: http://onethirteenmoneytime.blogspot.com/ If you have any questions, no problem! See you soon, Mathias PS: Yes, Ellie's paintings of the 70's are inspired by Matisse. 

Le 11 déc. 11 à 13:00 Mathias, Also, what is the url for your blog? I found it a week ago, but have not found it again. Thanks, Jeff

Le 11 déc. 11 à 19:43, jeff_steiner@comcast.net a écrit : Thanks again, Mathias. Another question, Ellie is not your and Justine's mother, correct?  I have been assuming she is not. I will look forward to the additional images. Jeff

Dec 12/11/11 1:50 PM No, Ellie was not our mother. Ellie has not had children. Soon, Mathias

Portrait

Dec 12/12/11 4:56 AM My father is alive. He's born in 1936. He has a blog, where he designed on computer.  But it doesn't paint a lot. His blog: http://www.vagabon-art.com/ He painted especially during his marriage to Ellie and when he was a student at the Beaux Arts (Fine Art school) in Nancy. He did not paint much. But he painted at the moment. I told him of course talked about our exchanges. He likes to interact with others and have very great and good Remember California. If you want more information on him? I'll see today. He will see your blog! See you, Mathias PS : I put your blog in my "BLOG + +" from my blog. I hope you have visits to France on your blog : - )


Dec 12/14/11 5:18 AM Hi Jeff, I've never been to Budapest. In agriculture, are there any exchanges between the United States and France? I know that France is in Europe, the country where there is more agriculture and most of European subsidies. As soon as I find the pictures of Ellie's house in the 60's, I send them to you. See you soon, Mathias 

(I deleted the original messages, December) Oh, and I have not been to France. My only work trip in Europe was to Budapest - perhaps Ireland for work early in 2012. J.

(I deleted the original messages, December) Thanks for the additional information - I enjoy learning more, and will look at your father's blog. Jeff

12/21/11 11:50 AM Dear Jean-Marie, Thank you for your reply and the additional details. I have enjoyed learning about your art, and that of Mathias and Justine - your family is quite talented. I am 57 and married for 35 years, have grown four children: 31, 29, 27, and 23. My parents (in their late 80's) still regularly use their house in Cambria, but live in Visalia - they will continue to enjoy the coast until my father can no longer drive. Their Cambria house is just a couple of blocks walk from the house you lived in. I work for the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and have been in administration for the past six years in the Washington, D.C. area. As you can probably see, I blog around a few regular themes - mostly birds and some about the military experiences - one of my sons served in the U.S. Army for four year, and the youngest is training as a pilot in the Navy - I did not serve in the military, so this has been an adjustment for my wife and me. I write my blog for my grandchildren - for when they want to know more about what their grandfather thought about when they are older, and I am ancient. Take care, thanks again, and I hope you have a good Christmas. Jeff 

Bonnard greeting card

Jan 01/03/12 4:46 PM Dear Jeff and family, First of all we wish you one very happy New Year. 2012 is one year for us electoral, I send you as to all my friends my wishes card, (it
also works for the United States) I enclose a drawing of the house of Aunt Ellie that I made in 1999 during our last visit to Cambria. Encore bonne année et bonne santé et grosses bises à vous tous! Mathias, Justine, Yolande & Jean marie Bonnard

Jan 01/07/12 9:11 AM Mathius, Thank you and all the best to you and your family in the New Year. I appreciate connecting with new friends in France. Jeff  
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Addendum: My sister-in-law was raised in Cambria. She has interest in the recent Bogardus discoveries.

Sunday, December 11, 2011, 1:54 PM Here are the rest of Ellie's. 

Dec 12/12/11 11:07 AM Thanks, Jeff.  I only wish the guy in Los Angeles was as good a photographer as Bonnard.  I wouldn't mind having better quality photos of that collection.  I remember when I was at Ellie's once, she was working on a painting called Pink Lady or Pink Ladies.  A wordplay on the subjects wearing pink and drinking Pink Ladies.  There was, of course, a cat or cats relaxing while the ladies enjoyed their cocktails.  I like her later paintings because they remind me of Matisse.  I once read  in a comparison of Matisse and Picasso that Matisse could paint joy.  I think Elllie could too.  Wishing you and Jan a joyous Christmas if I don't hear from you before then or even if I do.  Love, Dana

Dec 12/12/11 11:25 AM I see Gertrude Stein's Cat as Mona Lisa with Cat.   Mirror images across centuries.

 

Ellie Bogardus' Midnight in Paris

Bonnard by Fred Penney

My blog acquaintance Mathias, the illustrator whose father Jean-Marie Bonnard was married to Ellie Borgardus, sent a treasure trove of images painted by Ellie and his father from the period 1964 to 1967. The two were living in the house on Nottingham Drive in Cambria at the time. Among the images sent were three of the elder Bonnard. The first is a portrait by Fred Penney (Frederick Doyle Penney, 1900-1988), another Cambria artist and neighbor (1). Ellie Bogardus was using the name Bonnard as late as 1969 when A Boy Named Charlie Brown was released - she was credited as a graphic designer.

Jean-Marie by Ellie, 1967

A portrait by Ellie of her husband (shown to the right) was signed in 1990 or 1991 during a trip to France - her paintings from the 1960's were not signed at that time (2). Beards were obviously stylish then, perhaps a sign of membership among the artist colony at the time. The thought of a gathering of artists reminded me of Midnight in Paris, the latest Woody Allen movie that depicted a nostalgic author and other characters longing for eras gone by. Paris was a magnet for Americans artists from the later 1800's to 1920's - Allen plays with that theme in his movie. With a little imagination, it seems that there is a little bit of that feeling with these folks in Cambria as well - artists from both sides of the Atlantic tuning their instruments along the Pacific coast - another kind of Mediterranean environment like that of southern France.

Cat and Jean-Marie

The third image of Bonnard shows what looks like will be the beginnings of Ellie's later domestic interiors style, showing a scene with Bonnard sitting at a small table reading - drink in his hand, and most noticeable, a cat resting on another table nearby. Cats in paintings, cats etched on walls, cat-styled mailboxes, real cats roaming between the house and yard - a most common theme when you look back. I recall few if any cats in the Charlie Brown cartoon features. The mood of Bonnard is hard to gauge - maybe only concentration as he reads.

Other than an art appreciation class I took my freshman or sophomore year in college, having my own photographic darkroom set up in my bathroom the last three years living at home before going off to college, and taking an adult education class where I dabbled at oil painting for a short time in 1986, I have admired the art of others, not tried to produce any myself. Style doesn't matter for the most part (unlike music), it's the visual that gets me thinking about the story behind the story, so the posting of these will be by an untrained curator.

Following are a collection of paintings by Jean-Marie Bonnard that Mathias provided. I need to find out if Bonnard is still active with his art. (I have since found out from Mathias that J.M. is alive and was born in 1936. He was a student at the Beaux Arts (Fine Art school) in Nancy, but did not paint much - but painted while married to Ellie. His blog can be found by clicking here. Note his self-portrait sketch in the upper left of his blog - still with a beard.)

Jean-Marie Bonnard #1, c. 1964-67

Jean-Marie Bonnard #2, c. 1964-67

Jean-Marie Bonnard #3, c. 1964-67

Jean-Marie Bonnard #4, c. 1964-67

Jean-Marie Bonnard #5, c. 1964-67

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(1)  Frederick Doyle Penney was born in Fullerton, Nebraska on January 10, 1900. After the University of Nebraska, he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and Art Students League in New York City. Settling in Los Angeles in 1924, he continued at Chouinard Art School under Hinkle, Chamberlin, and Pruett Carter. During the 1930s he was active in the Los Angeles art scene while operating a design center. At the onset of World War Two he moved to Chicago to work in his father's factory and continued to paint in that area until his return to California in 1957. His last 30 years were spent in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs. He died there on February 2, 1988. Penney specialized in desert landscapes in oil and watercolor. A Chicago art critic said of his work, "He slides the seasons of the year through his palette like strands of colored silk." Member: Desert Art Center (Palm Springs); Laguna Beach Art Ass'n; California Watercolor Society; Shadow Mountain Palette Club. Exhibited: California Art Club, 1930-33; California Watercolor Society, 1930-35; California Statewide (Santa Cruz), 1931; Golden Gate International Exposition, 1939; Society for Sanity in Art, 1940, 1942.

(2) Mathias Bonnard, personal communication by email, December 10, 2011.

Ellie Bogardus - French Connection

I received a reply from Mathias Bonnard to an earlier blog: Ellie Bogardus - Exterior/Interior Art. He happened onto the blog and wrote that his father and Ellie were married sixty years ago and lived in France in a cottage on the ocean. (2) The elder Bonnard was a

Voici SAM, la petite souris des dents...

draftsman and artist, and also worked in Los Angeles with Ellie on the "Peanuts, Charlie Brown and Snoopy cartoon in 60's." The French artistic connection runs deep - Mathias wrote that he lives in Nancy and is a draftsman for cartoons, video games, and comic books. He offered to send me more information about Ellie and images of paintings his father has - that would help add to the scant background that I have as mentioned in an even earlier blog - but his email address didn't work. In doing some searching on the Web to find a way to reply to Mathias, I found a blog of fanciful illustrations and animations by Justine Bonnard. Mathias was credited as the Directeur Artistique for the Mimik Chirerik blog. I assume Justine is his daughter - a third generation of cartoon illustrators. (1) The search continues.
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(1) I have since found out that Justine is Mathias' sister - regardless, cartoon artistry runs in that family. (October 17, 2011 AM)

(2) Mathias wrote to me today, and sent the corrections in the comment to this blog. Ellie and his father were married in the 1960's and lived in the house in Cambria (not at the ocean in France). (October 17, 2011 PM)