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One Work : One Story
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EMILE BERNARD (1868-1941) IS A FRENCH ARTIST WIDELY REGARDED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYNTHETIC AND CLOISONNISM MOVEMENT AND THE EVOLUTION OF ART IN THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY.
THE ARTIST REMAINS A PIVOTAL FIGURE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MODERN THEORIES, AND HIS PRACTICE AND WRITING LEAD TO NEW INNOVATIONS IN painting COMPOSITIONS.
A PAINTING OF THE ARTIST'S LOVER PORTRAIT DE MARIE LEMASSON (1887) IS A REMARKABLE EXAMPLE OF THE ARTIST'S EARLY PORTRAITS, A COMMANDING AND PERFECTLY COMPOSED PICTURE THAT DEMONSTRATES THE ARTIST'S – A THEN EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD TEENAGER – DISTINCTIVE TALENT FOR PORTRAIT COMPOSITIONS.
This work was given to Jacques Tousset, a longtime friend of the artist and has not been shown until it was recently rediscovered.
We wish to thank Mr André Cariou, art historian and former director of the quimper fine arts museum, for his unique contribution in the realisaton of this viewing room.
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Emile BernardPortrait de Marie Lemasson, 1887Oil on canvas
41.2 x 32.1 cm
16 ¼ x 12 5/8 inches
Signed upper right Emile Bernard 1887 -
Romance in Brittany
On April 4 1886, Emile Bernard, then a 17-year-old boy, decided to undertake a tour of Brittany on foot.
Different from his teacher, Fernand Cormon, Bernard was inspired by the impressionist movement to work on the motif of line.
His journey lead him to Saint-Briac, in the Cotes-d'Armor on the Emeraude Coast, near Dinard and Saint-Malo.
He settled in a hostel run by a Madame Lemasson. What initially was only a brief stage of his trip ended up lasting over five weeks. This was due to the hostel’s welcoming atmosphere and the beautiful surrounding landscapes. Most importantly, however, because of the hostess’ fourteen year old daughter, Marie, whom the young painter fell in love with.
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Saint-Briac, Place du Centre c.1900
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Saint-Briac, la plage de l'Emeraude, c.1920
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Against all expectations, and despite his parents' disapproval, Bernard decided to return to Brittany the following year, to Saint-Briac, in hope that he would see Marie again.
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BERNARD WROTE IN L’AVENTURE DE MA VIE (THE ADVENTURE OF MY LIFE; MANUSCRIPT, 1938, PARIS; NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ART HISTORY): “I FELL IN LOVE WITH HER DAUGHTER (DAUGHTER OF MS LEMASSON) AND WHEN I SAW HER AGAIN MY LOVE GREW PASSIONATELY. SHE BECAME MORE BEAUTIFUL; HER EYES WERE MESMERIZING. HE THEN WROTE TO HIS PARENTS (EARLY JUNE 1887, BRUSSELS, VAN BOGAERTS FUNDS, ROYAL LIBRARY, FS XXXVI 16): […] I WILL START MARIE LEMASSON’S PORTRAIT.
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Vincent Van Gogh and Emile Bernard in Asnières-sur-Seine, 1886
New reflections on painting
Since Bernard’s departure from the Cormon’s studio at the beginning of 1886, he adopted a practical technique of short strokes and dots, borrowed from the Neo-Impressionist Movement. In the autumn, the artist returned to Paris and met with his former fellow studio student, Louis Anquetin. Anquetin had pursued new research based on coloured glass effects, a technique called ‘Cloisonism’ because of its associations with enamel cloisonnés (partitioned).
Bernard met Vincent Van Gogh, also a student from Cormon’s studio. Through their acquaintance, Bernard would be introduced to Japanese woodblock prints, particularly those in the exhibition organized BY Van Gogh at the Tambour Cabaret Boulevard de Clichy, which started on March 22, 1886.
The three artists frequently visited the Père Tanguy small shop, to see the artwork of Paul Cezanne. In March 1887, after a meeting with Paul Signac, Bernard moved away from a Neo-Impressionist technique and towards a new style, characterised by the simplification of the coloured plans, the power of decorative lines and boldness of compositions, THE FOUNDATIONS OF SYNTHETISM WERE UNRAVELLING.
A few landscapes, painted from the Seine riverside at the end of winter (1887), illustrate Bernard’s artistic evolution: Le Pont d’Asnières(Museum of Modern Art, New York), Vue du Pont d’Asnières (Brest Fine Art Museum).
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'See the style and not the object. Identify the abstract meaning and not the objective' Emile Bernard ( Mémoires pour l'histoire du symbolisme pictural de 1890, 1919) -
Emile Bernard, Le Pont d’Asnières, 1887, oil on canvas, © Museum of Modern Art, New York
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Emile Bernard, le Portrait du Père Tanguy, 1887, © Kunstmuseum, Basel
It is difficult to know what Bernard’s inspiration for this portrait exactly was, since we cannot find a similar composition in the Cezanne’s works he possibly saw exhibited AT le Père Tanguy. Even in the work of his artist friends, Toulouse-Lautrec or Anquetin, could we find a similar composition.
Though Van Gogh painted Head of a Woman (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam) in a similar style – with the figure dominating the surface area and their gaze fixed upon the painter – we cannot be sure that Bernard had the opportunity to see this painting from 1885.
THE MODEL DEPICTED IN A LARGE VIEW, AS IF IN DIALOGUE WITH THE EYES OF THE PAINTER, IS RATHER UNUSUAL FOR THE PORTRAIT GENRE.
However, we can discern a similar composition via the Portrait of Père Tanguy (Kunstmuseum Basel).
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"This portrait of Marie Lemasson is one of the first work corresponding to the new artistic direction of Emile Bernard, marked by the influence of Anquetin and Cezanne, and which will pave the way a year later to the development of Synthetism, in Pont-Aven with Paul Gauguin. The innovation and confidence are remarkable" André Cariou, 2021
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A bold composition
During the summer of 1887 in Saint-Briac, Bernard’s artistic interest primarily concerned religious ceremonies and the landscapes he discovered. This portrait, however, is an exception.
BERNARD CONSTRUCTed THE PORTRAIT WITH THE middle section behind the figure REPRESENTING THE SEA AND THE THIRD section COMPOSED OF SIMPLE PATTERNS -- REMINISCENT OF JAPANESE WOODBLOCK PRINTS— DEPICTING THE SKY AND PERFECTLY BALANCING WITH THE SILHOUETTE OF THE GIRL.
THE FORMS AND THE PRECISE DETAILING GIVEN TO THE KNOT SUGGEST AND HIGHLIGHT THE seriousness THE YOUNG GIRL.
THE INTENSITY OF THE gaze IS STRIKING AND FURTHER EMPHASIZES THE PRESENCE OF THE girl and her line of sight to the artist.
THIS IS ENHANCED BY THE CONTOURS THAT DELINEATE THE CLOTHING AND THE ENERGETIC BRUSHWORK USE TO DEPICT MARIE’S HAIR.
Colours are woven and rewoven throughout the portrait, to simple but beautiful effect. We notice delicate echoes of reds, from the blouse or ribbon, blues, from of the knot and sky, and the light brown of Marie’s? hair and the coast.
Certain aspects of subject are addressed as flat colour tints, without structure or shape. Acutely, Bernard drew the spectator's attention to the figure, avoiding any contextualization.
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Portrait de Marie Lemasson (detailed)
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Emile Bernard, Après-Midi à Saint-Briac, 1887, Oil on canvas, © Aarau, Aargauer Kunsthaus.
The women depicted from the back wears the same ribbon as in the Portrait of Marie Lemasson, while contemplating a landscape in Saint-Briac, in the picture Après-Midi à Saint-Briac.
This woman could be Marie Lemasson.
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Records
