Les Bretonneries: Breton Women Making Haystacks - Émile Bernard

A striking lithograph by Émile Bernard, featuring the bold outlines and flattened forms characteristic of the Cloisonnist movement in late 19th-century Brittany.

This lithograph by Émile Bernard captures the rural life of Brittany, a region that drew many artists during the late nineteenth century. Bernard, a central figure in the development of Cloisonnism, employs bold, dark outlines to define the figures and the surrounding environment. This technique, which separates areas of tone with distinct borders, creates a flattened pictorial space that moves away from traditional perspective.

The composition focuses on the rhythmic, repetitive forms of the haystacks and the figures of the women engaged in their labour. The heavy, graphic quality of the lines emphasises the solidity of the shapes, reducing the scene to its essential components. By stripping away unnecessary detail, Bernard directs the viewer to the structural harmony of the rural activity. The contrast between the dark, dense masses of the haystacks and the lighter, more open areas of the field provides a sense of balance to the print.

Bernard was closely associated with Paul Gauguin during his time in Pont-Aven. Together, they explored new ways of representing the world, often looking towards Japanese woodblock prints for inspiration. This work reflects that period of experimentation, where the artist prioritised symbolic form and decorative arrangement over naturalistic representation. The print serves as a clear example of the stylistic shifts occurring in French art at the time, as painters sought to move beyond the observations of Impressionism towards a more synthetic and conceptual approach to image-making. The raw, unrefined quality of the lithographic process adds a tactile dimension to the work, grounding the scene in the physical reality of the Breton countryside.