Artwork

Les Bretonneries: Breton Women Making Haystacks (Bretonnes Faisant les Foins)

Les Bretonneries: Breton Women Making Haystacks (Bretonnes Faisant les Foins) is a print by the Impressionist artist Émile Bernard. It dates from 1889 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.

About this work

Overview

Les Bretonneries: Breton Women Making Haystacks is a 1889 print by Émile Bernard, a French artist associated with the Post-Impressionist movement.

Subject & Meaning

The print depicts three Breton women laboring under a cloudy sky, their simple clothing and bent postures conveying the physical demands of rural work. By focusing on their labor, Bernard highlights the hardship and effort involved in agricultural tasks.

Technique & Style

The work is characterized by rough, quick lines and a sketchy, unfinished quality. Bernard's emphasis on bold forms and simplified representation is evident in the blurred faces of the women, which direct attention to their physical labor rather than their individual features.

Artist & collection

Artist

Émile Bernard

Émile Henri Bernard (French pronunciation: ; 28 April 1868 – 16 April 1941) was a French Post-Impressionist painter and writer, who had artistic friendships with Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Eugène Boch, and at a later time, Paul…