Emile Bernard

Emile Bernard was a French painter and writer associated with the Post-Impressionist movement. He was born in Lille in 1868 and showed an interest in art from a young age. Bernard was a close friend of Paul Gauguin, and their work shared many similarities in style, often incorporating bold colors and flattened forms. Bernard's most notable contribution to art history was his development of a theory of Synthetism, which aimed to synthesize the different elements of art into a cohesive whole. He believed that art should be a visual representation of an idea or emotion rather than an imitation of reality. Despite his contributions to the Post-Impressionist movement, Bernard's work did not receive significant recognition during his lifetime, and he struggled with poverty and alcoholism. He died in 1941, largely forgotten by the art world.