About this artwork

This drawing dates from 1888, a crucial year for Bernard and his friend Gauguin. Both men were in Pont-Aven, Brittany, each producing their seminal paintings of Breton life: Bernard’s Breton Women in the Meadow (Private Collection) and Gauguin’s Vision of the Sermon. This bold watercolour of a seated young woman is typical of the costume studies Bernard made at Pont-Aven, where he lodged at the Pension Gloanec. The model for this study may well have been one of the Pension staff. She wears traditional Breton costume with a coiffe and a sober outfit with black sleeves. He was seemingly unhappy with the head and redrew it on a piece of paper which he then stuck on the main design. She is particularly close to the figure types found in Bernard's Breton Women in the Meadow.

Updated before 2020

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Emile Bernard

Emile Bernard