Lithograph on smooth, cream wove paper with hand coloring in watercolor and gouache, 1889-89. 235x300 mm; 9 1/4x11 3/4 inches. Probably printed by Edouard Ancourt, Paris. From Les Bretonneries. A very good impression of this extremely scarce lithograph.
According to Boyle-Turner, "The edition must have been extremely small since these prints are very rare indeed. It is not even known if an actual edition was ever printed. The words 'available upon request' in the Volpini catalogue suggest that they may have been printed only when ordered."
Bernard hand colored most of the known impressions from Les Bretonneries series. Therefore, each of the colored prints are unique. After being colored, many of Bernard's prints were individually glued to a green cardboard backing, as is this impression (Boyle-Turner, page 49).
Both Bernard and his friend Paul Gauguin made a series of lithographs for the seminal 1889 exhibition of paintings at Volpini's Café des Arts, under the name "Groupe Impressioniste et Synthétiste." Other well-known artists in the exhibition included Emile Schuffenecker, Paul Sérusier, Maurice Denis and Aristide Maillol.
We have found only one other impression of this subject at auction in the past 30 years. Boyle-Turner 8.
