Emile Bernard

Emile Bernard first traveled to Italy in March 1893, and during this visit he stopped in Rome, Genoa, Pisa, Florence, and Venice. His drawings from this period typically use strong black contours and flat areas of color or shadow. This drawing stylistically resembles a second sheet from the Joseph F. McCrindle Collection featuring an Italian street view (Inv. 2009.37), perhaps sketched during the same Italian sojourn. Bernard returned to Venice many times throughout his life, and views of the city and its attractions are recurring themes throughout his oeuvre. He executed a series of eight wood-engravings representing his favorite Venetian views over a period of 20 years (Daniel Morane, Émile Bernard: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre gravé. Paris, 2000, no. 81-88, pp. 82-85). This drawing, however, does not relate to a print in this series, nor does it appear to relate to a known painting (Jean-Jacques Luthi, Émile Bernard: Catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint. Paris, 1982). It seems that Bernard sketched the church from life, perhaps in the late afternoon, as the sun begins to cast a shadow along the deep arcades of the facade.