Breton Women with Parasols - Emile Bernard

A striking example of Cloisonnism, this work by Emile Bernard features Breton women in traditional dress, rendered with bold contours and flat, expressive colour.

Emile Bernard, a central figure in the development of late nineteenth-century French painting, produced this work during his time in Brittany. The composition reflects the principles of Cloisonnism, a style characterised by bold forms separated by dark contours. This technique draws inspiration from stained glass and Japanese woodblock prints, rejecting the traditional modelling of light and shadow in favour of flat, expressive areas of colour.

The scene depicts women in traditional Breton attire, including the distinctive white coifs, gathered under parasols. Bernard uses a non-naturalistic palette, where the golden-yellow ground contrasts with the deep blues of the figures' garments. The parasols, rendered in muted pink and red, provide a rhythmic structure to the composition. By flattening the pictorial space, Bernard directs attention to the decorative arrangement of shapes rather than a realistic representation of the environment.

This work demonstrates the artist's interest in the synthesis of memory and observation. Rather than capturing a fleeting moment, Bernard constructs a scene that feels static and timeless. The figures appear as silhouettes against the simplified background, a hallmark of his approach to painting during this period. His collaboration with Paul Gauguin in Pont-Aven encouraged this shift toward symbolic and decorative modes of expression. The painting remains a clear example of the departure from Impressionist techniques, moving instead toward the abstraction that would define much of the early twentieth-century avant-garde. The clarity of the outlines and the deliberate choice of colour demonstrate a calculated approach to visual storytelling, where the subject serves as a vehicle for formal experimentation.