Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Masterpieces from Paris - Emile Bernard



Emile Bernard's The Harvest is one of my favourite paintings at the Paris exhibition. It is only 56 x 40 cm, graphically striking with its contrasting, simple colour shapes and the strong diagonal. When Bernard hung this painting in the dining room of his lodgings, the other guests demanded it be removed and so he exchanged it for a work by Gauguin.
I have wanted to use the round shape of our dining table in a composition for a while and it seemed to match Bernard's curve of the hill. I had endless trouble trying to do the table surface - I find it hard to visualise what I want - and then there's the question of how to achieve it.
Acrylic on board
20cm x 20cm

8 comments:

Jan Allsopp said...

This is brilliant! So evocative. That round shape is wonderful. Beautiful work.

Peceli and Wendy's Blog said...

Hello Alison,
It's lovely to see your new paintings and a painting within a painting. Way to go. How fabulous to live in a city with such an exhibition. I went to Canberra years and years ago when they had a similar exhibition. We were all art students and took a bus up.
Wendy

annie said...

Ah, Alison,I usually make such wonky circles and so your shapes amaze me. There is so much to see in the colors and depth of that table--evocative as Jan says. And like Wendy, I like that painting within a painting.
annie

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

Penny said...

Tend to agree with anon!

Anonymous said...

This is so vibrant. It reminds me of van Gogh's chair, and there's one of his with a bed also. Stunning.

Unknown said...

I've just spent some time going thru your paintings influenced by the masters; all so very good! But, I am especially partial to this one. I love it!

Liz Steel said...

just came across your blog again and enjoying your masterpieces form paris posts! This one is stunning. I was in Canberra two weeks ago - 50 minutes in the queue and frustrated with the crowds... next time I am coming down early so I can really enjoy the works! I am appreciating that you are mentioning the 'lesser' artists.