Portrait of a Young Woman
Emile Bernard (1868 - 1941), 1887
oil on canvas, 41 cm x 32.2 cm
Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij and the Foundation Mr. Cornelis Roozen)
Bernard and Van Gogh shared a close artistic friendship. The two enjoyed working together and often exchanged thoughts on contemporary painting. In Asnières, just outside Paris, they painted side by side in the wooden studio in the garden of Bernard’s parents. It is almost certain that Van Gogh saw Portrait of a Young Woman there.
Bernard here achieved a striking balance between the many shades of blue and red. The bold brushwork, frontal pose, and intense gaze lend the image a powerful immediacy. Van Gogh found inspiration in Bernard’s portraits for his own later likenesses.
- Object number
- s0551S2022
- Dimensions
- 41 cm x 32.2 cm, 60.9 cm x 51.8 cm, 64 cm
- Provenance
- Donated by the artist to Jacques Tasset; after his death bequeathed to his heirs; consigned by these heirs to auction Paris, Baron-Ribeyre & Associés S.V.V (Bijoux et orfèvrerie, art moderne et contemporain), lot 178 (Portrait de jeune fille au nœud), purchased for EUR 88.800, probably by Stoppenbach & Delestre, London, 15 June 2020; sold by Stoppenbach & Delestre, London to the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 28 April 2022.
- artist
- Emile Bernard
- Credits
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij and the Foundation Mr. Cornelis Roozen)
Vellekoop, Marije, Recent acquisitions (2020–25) at the Van Gogh Museum, pp. 1, 4-5