It would appear that the appeal of a rigid surface--as opposed to the resilient surface of a stretched canvas--was the original reason why Bonnard resorted to tacking his canvas onto a firm support. According to the catalogue raisonné, during the years 1888 to 1905, 277 works were painted on cardboard or wood panels, as opposed to 254 works on canvas (of which 64 are dated 1905). More than half the oils of this period were painted on a rigid support. For the years 1906 to 1919, there are only 77 works on cardboard or wood, as opposed to 713 works on canvas. The amount of oils on canvas thus increased dramatically starting in 1905. It would seem that around that time, Bonnard started to tack canvas to boards and walls more systematically, thus freeing himself from the necessity of using cardboard or wood panels for support. This suggests that the rigidity of the support was a more determining factor than the flexibility of its dimensions. The fact that each tacked canvas extended into another work in progress across the surface of a wall sheds some light on how, in Jean Cassou's words, Bonnard's finished paintings may have looked like "a sumptuous jumble cut out, as though at random, in the spectacle of life." The paintings [at left] are identified hereafter by their number and date in the Dauberville catalogue raisonné. Top to bottom, first vertical row: D 01898, c.1906; D 559, c. 1909; D 510, 1908. Second row: a painting similar Vuillard's Femme au chien, 1907, not in Dauberville; D 564, c.1909; D 515, 1908; D 01919, c. 1907. Third row: unidentified framed painting; D 774, 1913 [?]; D 492, 1908; D 424, 1906; and D 01918, c. 1907. ©1998 The Museum of Modern Art, New York