Collection: Émile Bernard

Émile Henri Bernard (1868–1941) was a French Post-Impressionist painter and writer. Born in Lille, he developed artistic friendships with Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Eugène Boch, and later Paul Cézanne. Much of his significant work was completed between 1886 and 1897, a period during which he became associated with the art movements of Cloisonnism and Synthetism.

Bernard's artistic contributions include his involvement in the development of Cloisonnism and Synthetism, two late 19th-century movements. His paintings from this period include genre scenes such as Laundresses (1888) and Breton Women (c. 1889), as well as still lifes like Still Life with Fruit (1890). Beyond painting, Bernard produced a body of literary work, encompassing plays, poetry, and art criticism, alongside art historical statements that offer first-hand accounts of modern art's formative years.

In 1888, Bernard collaborated with Paul Gauguin to develop Symbolist painting. His extensive correspondence with artists like Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Cézanne, along with his writings, constitute primary art historical sources for the late 19th century. He lived in Cairo for ten years, from 1894 to 1904.