2018.4.McD Emile Bernard, The Salon | DMA Staging Content Management System

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Salon is the culminating masterpiece of a five-year period that Émile Bernard dedicated to exploring the modern subject of brothels through drawings, paintings, and even poetry. It depicts the sitting room of a brothel where five women in various states of undress await clients. Neither moralizing nor salacious, Bernard presents the mundane boredom of prostitutes who pass time by playing cards, napping, or drinking. The women’s bleak situation is emphasized by Bernard’s garish palette of contrasting reds and greens, as well as his semi-abstract style characterized by simplified forms, broad planes of color, and black contours. Dubbed cloisonnism, the aesthetic was inspired by several sources, including Paul Cézanne’s paintings, French folk prints, medieval enamels and stained glass, and Japanese woodblock prints.

Excerpt from

Nicole Myers, DMA label copy, 2018.

NOTES

Created in 1890

Checked Piction: no audio or video assets to add

Geography France because I cannot confirm the city without more research.

Catalogue essays

McDermott Art Fund

A Conversation with Margaret McDermott and Dorothy Kosinski (2003)

Artist/designers

Bernard, Emile (French, 1868-1941)

Cultures

Geography

Place of origin: France (nation): TGN: 1000070

Process/materials

Oil on canvas

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms

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PROVENANCE

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FUN FACTS

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RULES

Apply to objects where number equals 2018.4.McD

General Description

The Salon is the culminating masterpiece of a five-year period that Émile Bernard dedicated to exploring the modern subject of brothels through drawings, paintings, and even poetry. It depicts the sitting room of a brothel where five women in various states of undress await clients. Neither moralizing nor salacious, Bernard presents the mundane boredom of prostitutes who pass time by playing cards, napping, or drinking. The women’s bleak situation is emphasized by Bernard’s garish palette of contrasting reds and greens, as well as his semi-abstract style characterized by simplified forms, broad planes of color, and black contours. Dubbed cloisonnism, the aesthetic was inspired by several sources, including Paul Cézanne’s paintings, French folk prints, medieval enamels and stained glass, and Japanese woodblock prints.