LAUSANNE.- The Fondation de l’Hermitage is exhibiting works belonging to the Geneva-based collector Jean Bonna. Primarily comprising works on paper, this exceptional, highly consistent collection has been assembled over many years for its aesthetic pleasures alone, rather than any desire to be exhaustive.

This exhibition represents a new chapter in the museum’s exploration of prestigious Swiss private collections, which it has pursued for more than fifteen years (Weinberg collection in 1997, Jean Planque collection in 2001, Arthur and Hedy Hahnloser collection in 2011).

Jean Bonna is a bibliophile with a love of paper. This passion led him from books to illustrated works, prints and finally to period drawings. For thirty years he has collected graphic works of the highest quality, which now form a remarkable collection on a par with the greatest private collections assembled in Europe since the 16th century.

Beyond its riches, this collection is notable for its variety in terms of the artists represented, techniques used and periods covered, which range from the Italian Renaissance to the early 20th century. It is also the work of one man, reflecting his preference for finished pieces and his connoisseur’s appreciation of the female figure, landscapes and images of animals.

Following two major exhibitions at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris (2006), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2009) and the National Gallery, Edinburgh (2009), the Jean Bonna collection is now on display at the Fondation de l’Hermitage. Visitors will be able to explore the development of the collector’s taste through his acquisitions, with a very wide selection of nearly 150 graphic masterpieces by artists including Boucher, Carracci, Cézanne, Chardin, Degas, Delacroix, Gauguin, Géricault, Goya, Greuze, Guardi, Liotard, Lorrain, Manet, Raphael, Redon, Rembrandt, Renoir, Tiepolo and Watteau.