During the late 1800s, Pierre Bonnard was a leading member of the Nabis, a brotherhood of Post-Impressionist artists. The Nabis rejected academic naturalism in favor of heavy outlines and an expressionistic application of color in their paintings.
While the Nabis were no longer working together as a group when Bonnard painted The Breakfast, the decorative patterning, flattened perspective, and rich coloration of his earlier practice remain evident.