Émile BERNARD (1868-1941) Nudes in a landscape Circa 1888-1889 Ink on paper Signed and dated (illegible) lower right 19.5 x 29.5 cm PROVENANCE : - Atelier Émile Bernard - Clément Altarriba Collection - Private collection, Paris NOTE : Baigneuses and baigneurs are part of a corpus of nudes, a theme often treated by Émile BERNARD from 1887, initiating the so-called Pont-Aven period. At the time, nudes were still a decorative motif. Later, they became a pretext for rendering the perfection of their anatomy, with the grace and elegance of which the painter possessed the secret. Our study is most interesting in that it deals prematurely with this theme, which would later inspire his great friend Paul CÉZANNE (1839-1906) around 1904-1905, even though Émile BERNARD sketched both female and male models, whereas CÉZANNE only did female models. "If the question of the relationship with the better-known Gauguin is part of a context of chronological immediacy and stylistic proximity that gives it a particular acuity, Cézanne, on the other hand, will nourish a reflection spread out over time, resulting in what might be defined as an impregnation of Bernard's work." "Cézanne's nudes were to echo in Bernard's work well into the 1920s." Rodolphe RAPETTI, in Revue de l'Art, issue 144/2004-2, p. 39 A certificate of authenticity from Madame Béatrice RECCHI-ALTARRIBA, granddaughter of Émile BERNARD, will be given to the buyer.