Les Bretonneries 1889

Emile Bernard created this print, Les Bretonneries, using etching. The print’s contrasting black ink on a light surface creates a stark visual impact, focusing our attention on the forms and their arrangements. The composition is split into two distinct panels each containing an internal scene. The left features women in traditional Breton attire beside a cow with a tree dividing the pictorial space. The right shows figures in a boat on water. Notice the use of line in both panels. The lines are not merely descriptive; they build the composition. They suggest the weight and volume of the figures and objects within a shallow pictorial space. Bernard uses these formal elements to challenge traditional modes of representation. Instead of aiming for realistic depth or detail, Bernard simplifies forms and flattens the perspective. He invites us to engage with the artwork not as a window onto the world, but as a structured field of signs. Through its formal construction, this print opens a space for questioning how we perceive reality.