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Lot Essay
Le Tabarin ou Cabaret à Paris, peint en 1888-89 par Emile Bernard, est une scène de cabaret inspirée par l'atmosphère du Tréteau de Tabarin, un lieu de divertissement nocturne du quartier de Pigalle. Sous la forme d'une composition en frise, la toile représente une foule de spectateurs vêtus de noir, avançant par petits groupes. Au centre, une jeune femme parée de rose est attablée. Derrière elle, se distingue la scène d'un théâtre où se produit une danseuse lumineuse devant une audience disciplinée. Emile Bernard revenait à cette époque d'un premier séjour à Pont-Aven, petit village breton où il avait retrouvé Paul Gauguin, exilé depuis 1886. Les deux artistes y avaient élaboré de concert les lois du synthétisme qui proposait une synthèse tant formelle que conceptuelle du réel. A l'image d'une vision lointaine, l'artiste travaillait d'après son souvenir, en évoquant les formes et les couleurs de façon simplifiée. Les figures cernées de noir apparaissent comme des silhouettes fantomatiques. Leurs grandes écharpes mouvantes font écho aux lampions et fanions décoratifs accrochés au plafond du cabaret. Le traitement linéaire des masses, en aplats de couleurs et sans modelé, fait référence à la technique des cloisonnés médiévaux et de l'art byzantin. La gamme de couleurs utilisée par Bernard est particulièrement riche, notamment dans la profondeur des noirs enrichis de bleu de Prusse. Bien qu'étant d'inspiration profane, cette scène évoque le déroulement d'une procession religieuse. De fait, l'une des caractéristiques des deux maîtres de Pont-Aven est d'avoir fait usage sans hiérarchisation de codes iconographiques complexes, mêlant la réalité à la Fable ou aux Ecritures.
Le Tabarin or Cabaret à Paris, painted in 1889 by Emile Bernard, is a cabaret scene inspired by the atmosphere of the Tréteau de Tabarin, a night-time cabaret venue in the Pigalle district. In the form of a frieze, the canvas shows a crowd of spectators dressed in black, moving in small groups. In the center sits a young woman dressed in pink. Behind her a theatre stage can be seen, on which a radiant dancer performs before a well-behaved audience. Emile Bernard had returned during this period from an initial stay in Pont-Aven, a small Breton village where he had met Paul Gauguin, exiled there since 1886. In collaboration, the two artists had drawn up the laws of Synthetism which proposed both a formal and conceptual synthesis of reality. Like a far-off vision, the artist worked from memory, by evoking shapes and colours in a simplified way. The figures outlined in black appear as ghost-like silhouettes. Their wide swaying scarves echo the Chinese lanterns and decorative pennants hanging from the ceiling of the cabaret. The linear treatment of the crowds, in flat patches of colour, is a reference to the technique of Medieval monks and Byzantine art. The range of colours used by Bernard is especially rich, particularly in the depths of blacks enhanced by Prussian blue. Although of profane inspiration, this scene evokes a religious procession taking place. In fact, one of the characteristics of the two masters of Pont-Aven is their use, without particular favouritism, of complex illustrative symbols, combining reality with fable and the Scriptures.
Le Tabarin or Cabaret à Paris, painted in 1889 by Emile Bernard, is a cabaret scene inspired by the atmosphere of the Tréteau de Tabarin, a night-time cabaret venue in the Pigalle district. In the form of a frieze, the canvas shows a crowd of spectators dressed in black, moving in small groups. In the center sits a young woman dressed in pink. Behind her a theatre stage can be seen, on which a radiant dancer performs before a well-behaved audience. Emile Bernard had returned during this period from an initial stay in Pont-Aven, a small Breton village where he had met Paul Gauguin, exiled there since 1886. In collaboration, the two artists had drawn up the laws of Synthetism which proposed both a formal and conceptual synthesis of reality. Like a far-off vision, the artist worked from memory, by evoking shapes and colours in a simplified way. The figures outlined in black appear as ghost-like silhouettes. Their wide swaying scarves echo the Chinese lanterns and decorative pennants hanging from the ceiling of the cabaret. The linear treatment of the crowds, in flat patches of colour, is a reference to the technique of Medieval monks and Byzantine art. The range of colours used by Bernard is especially rich, particularly in the depths of blacks enhanced by Prussian blue. Although of profane inspiration, this scene evokes a religious procession taking place. In fact, one of the characteristics of the two masters of Pont-Aven is their use, without particular favouritism, of complex illustrative symbols, combining reality with fable and the Scriptures.