Drawings by Emile Bernard together for the first time at the Van Gogh Museum

This presentation stems from new scholarly research into the art Vincent and his brother Theo collected from their contemporaries. Bernard sent the drawings to Van Gogh in 1888. The drawings were the visual accompaniment to the artistic exchange that unfolded in the friends’ correspondence, and were intended for Vincent’s eyes only. They offer a unique insight into the artists’ widely discussed friendship.

Van Gogh (1853-1890) and the fifteen-year-younger Bernard (1868-1941) met each other in Paris in 1886: first in Fernand Cormon’s studio where they were both students, and later in Julien (père) Tanguy’s small paint supplies shop. After this second encounter, the two artists became good friends. Bernard and Van Gogh discussed modern painting constantly; after Van Gogh’s departure, their discussions continued by letter.     

‘(…) actually I like everything that you do, as you know – and perhaps nobody before me has liked what you do as much as I do’.

Vincent van Gogh to Emile Bernard, c. 5 October 1888 [698]

Seventeen of the twenty-seven drawings that Bernard sent to Van Gogh depict prostitution. They explore Parisian prostitution as a subject for a modern art that presented every aspect of urban life, including the rough undertones. One of these drawings is Brothel Scene (1888), in which Bernard depicted a prostitute seducing a client at a brothel, while the owner of the establishment (the madam) looks on approvingly.

The other drawings show a range of subjects, such as peasant life in Brittany and recreation in Asnières, a Parisian suburb. A few drawings are of Biblical scenes. The drawings are made in smooth, quick ink lines, accentuated with watercolour. These are fine demonstrations of Bernard’s flexibility as an artist.

Main Image: Emile Bernard, Brothel Scene, 1888, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Vincent van Gogh Foundation)