Updated 08 April 2025
Currently not on display
Currently not on display
Self-Portrait as a Troubadour
| Date | 1892 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on canvas |
| Size（cm） | 81 x 65 |
| Inscriptions | Stamped lower right (studio's seal): Emile Bernard |
| Credit Line | Purchased |
| Standard ref. | Luthi 351 |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1990-0001 |
From 1882 through 1892, Bernard traveled to Brittany every year and there he interacted closely with the Pont-Aven school of painters, including P. Gauguin, C.-E. Schuffenecker, M. de Hahn and Ch. Laval. During that period near the end of the 19th century, the peninsula-shaped region of Brittany, protruding into the Atlantic, stimulated the imaginations of artists as a land where the ancient traditions and customs of the Celts, France's indigenous people, remained deeply entrenched. This painting is one of the last works from Bernard's Brittany period. The medieval subject, the synthetic handling of the composition in color planes and outlines, and other features reveal the strong influence of Gauguin while also ably conveying Bernard's own characteristics. However, by the time this painting was created Bernard had already split from Gauguin, and the Gauguin-style of planar, simplified colors and stiff forms cannot be found. Conversely, the painting is characterized by a gentle, dream-like palette and figures with their proportions reminiscent of a medieval courtly tale. The figure of the medieval troubadour playing the lute is Bernard himself. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 88)
Provenance
Coll. Amboise Vollard, Paris; Coll. R. Lundén, Enebyberg (Sweden); Purchased by the NMWA, 1990.
Exhibition History
- 1976
- Emile Bernard, Aguélimuseet, Sala, 14 November 1976 - 5 December 1976, Konsthallen, Uppsala, 26 December 1976 – 16 January 1977, no. 11
- 1996
- The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 48
- 2009
- Toulouse-Lautrec et son cercle, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, 10 November 2009 - 23 December 2009, cat. no. 17, col. repr.
- 2013
- Monet, An Eye for Landscapes: Innovation in 19th Century French Landscape Paintings, Pola Museum of Art, 13 July 2013 - 24 November 2013, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 7 December 2013-9 March 2014, cat. no. 60, col. repr.
- 2021
- Living in symbiosis with Forests and Water, Nagano Prefectural Art Museum, 28 August 2021 - 3 November 2021, cat.no.47
Bibliography
- 1982
- Luthi, J. J. Emile Bernard, Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peints, Paris, 1982, no. 351.
- 1992
- The French Modern Art, from The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, ed. Okinawa, Urasoe Art Museum, 1992, p. 27, cat. no. 17, col. repr
- 1994
- Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. Nos. 25-26 (April 1990-March 1992), 1994, Takahashi, Akiya. New Acquisutions. Emile Bernard, 《Self-Portrait as a Troubadour》. pp. 17-20, List of New Acquisitions. p. 45, col. repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 88, col. repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 88, col. repr.
- 2009
- Toulouse-Lautrec et son cercle(exh.cat). The Bunkamura Museum of Art. et al., eds. [Tokyo], The Tokyo Shimbun, 2009, cat. no. 17, col. repr.
- 2013
- MONET, An Eye For Landscapes: Innovation in 19th Century French Landscape Paintings(exh. cat.). Tokyo, TBS, c2013, cat. no. 60, col. repr.
- 2021
- Living in Symbiosis with Forests and Water: Celebrating the Grand Opening of Nagano Prefectural Art Museum (exh.cat.). Tanaka, Masafumi; Furuie, Mitsuha; Ikeda, Atsushi, eds. [Nagano], Nagano Prefectural Art Museum, 2021, pp. 101, 212, 217, cat. no. 47, col. repr.