Emile Bernard, French 1868¨1941 - Odalisques, c.1920; oil on canvas, 173 x 163 cm Literature: J. Luthi and A. Israel, 'Emile Bernard Sa Vie, Son Oeuvre Catalogue Raisonne', Paris, 2014, p.289 no.1039 (illus. in colour) Note: This sensual late...

Emile Bernard,
French 1868–1941 -

Odalisques, c.1920;

oil on canvas, 173 x 163 cm (unframed)

Literature: J. Luthi and A. Israel, 'Émile Bernard Sa Vie, Son Oeuvre Catalogue Raisonné', Paris, 2014, p.289 no.1039 (illus. in colour)

Note: This sensual late masterpiece by Émile Bernard shows the artist exploring Ingres’ Turkish Bath scenes in a Modern idiom. During the 1920s and following the First World War, like his contemporaries Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, Bernard reasserted a Neo-Classical language into his work, exploring the history of 19th century painting. Like Matisse’s odalisques of the 1920s, the work also shows the influence of Orientalism, but Bernard imbues his subjects with a sense of power as they confront the viewer with their gaze.

Émile Bernard was one of the most important French artists of the late 19th century, developing a modern Symbolist style alongside his friend Paul Gauguin in Britanny in the 1880s, based on an expressive use of colour and religious, pastoral imagery.
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