BENDALL / BERNÈDE : A Story of Painting in Bordeaux

A Story of Painting in Bordeaux

BENDALL BERNÈDE 12 April - 9 May 2021

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A Story of Painting in Bordeaux

“It is after all by colour that you will express yourself” - Mildred Bendall

Whitford Fine Art are delighted to present

Bendall received traditional artistic training

the first exhibition of selected works by

at the ‘École des Beaux-Arts’ in Bordeaux,

Bordelais artists Mildred Bendall (1891-

whilst

1977) and Georges Bernède (b. 1926), her

classes of the local fashionable painter

most important student. Their relationship

Félix Carme. Her early works emulate the

was unusual and exceptional for the time:

‘Chardinesque’ style of her tutor, conforming

a female artist influencing a young male

to the prevalent Academism of the time.

painter of a drastically different social and

Nonetheless, her early style shows Bendall’s

artistic background. Bendall's teachings and

solid grounding in drawing, technique and

support would prove invaluable to Bernède,

composition; skills which would later earn

she who had held her own against the likes of

her the respect of Henri Matisse and Albert

Marquet and Matisse. Both would bring a love

Marquet.

simultaneously

attending

private

and exploration of colour and unremitting commitment to the advancement of the

Following her formal training, Bendall

avant-garde to the art world of Bordeaux, an

travelled extensively throughout the South

area of France notorious for its conservatism.

of France drawing and painting the local landscapes and architecture. She spent

Born in 1891 into an affluent merchant

her summers at the family holiday home

family, Mildred Bendall would want for

in l’Herbe, an idyllic oyster village in the

nothing. Provided throughout her life with

Bassin d’Arcachon, where she executed

independent means, she was able to fully

some of her most enchanting coastal views.

dedicate herself to her artistic progress,

At home in Bordeaux, she continued to

unrestricted

achieve

paint views and still lifes in a traditional

commercial success. From 1910 to 1914,

style, of which Country Table (c.1915) is an

by

the

need

to

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excellent early example. Her paintings of this

in Paris. It was the first to offer life-drawing

period were exhibited at the local Bordeaux

classes and a meeting place for other

‘Salon des Beaux Arts’ and in 1920 Bendall

progressive artists in Bordeaux. Though a

gained admission to the ‘Salon des Artistes

central figure of the avant-garde movement

Français’ in Paris. Eventually, she would

and tireless promoter of other Bordelais

move to the capital from 1927-1928. Her year

artists, Bendall never sought fame for

in Paris would prove to be revolutionary.

herself, striving only to push the boundaries

She attended the ‘Académie de la Grande

of artistic progress.

Chaumière’ in Montparnasse where, as well as meeting the Eastern European émigrés,

From the 1930s onwards, Bendall’s own

Bendall rubbed shoulders with the French

style would become far more versatile and

avant-garde artists who would form the core

adventurous. Works such as Bouquet and

of what later became known as the ‘École de

Harbour (c.1935) of everyday scenes and

Paris’: Braque, Giacometti, Picasso, Rouault,

familiar objects reduced to simplified forms

Léger, Marquet

importantly,

rendered in striking, sumptuous colours

Matisse. Her friendship with the great master

are testament to her ready absorption of

would leave a lasting impression on Bendall

Matisse’s ‘Fauve’ ideas. Colour becomes

and her work.

the very building block by which Bendall

and, most

suggests not only form and space, but also Under Matisse’s guidance, Bendall became

emotion. As Matisse advised: “Simply look

an active force of the avant-garde in a

for the colours that create the sensations

highly

her

[you] feel.” Considering Bendall was a

return in 1928, she helped found the Society

highly private individual who spent much

of ‘Artistes Indépendants Bordelais’ to

of her life with her immediate family, these

challenge the prevailing Academism. At

canvases are extremely revelatory of her

Bendall’s request, masters such as Bonnard,

character and of her relationship to her art

Braque, Utrillo, Matisse and Picasso would

and her surroundings. There is a warmth

submit paintings to the Society’s yearly

and exuberance in her works and their

exhibitions. In addition, Bendall was also

execution which is undeniable. It was no

not only a member of ‘L’Ensemble’, a group

doubt this quiet intensity that so fascinated

formed for artists of various disciplines to

the fourteen-year-old Georges Bernède at

meet and share ideas, but also a founder of

their first meeting in the picturesque bastide

‘Le Studio’, a free academy based loosely on

town of Monségur.

conservative

Bordeaux.

On

the programme of ‘La Grande Chaumière’ 2

Mildred Bendall painting en plein air, Monségur, France.

Forced to flee Bordeaux at the onset of the

a painter was mocked and discouraged by

Second World War, Bendall had settled

his family and the inhabitants of Monségur.

in Monségur with her siblings which was

His father, wishing his son to take over the

situated in France’s Free Zone. It was here

family workshop, considered painting to

that, in around 1940 on a small country

be a frivolous pastime for the wealthy and

road, a young Bernède saw her painting

certainly not a legitimate way of earning a

en plein-air. The encounter would leave

living. Thus, convinced that Bendall would

an impression on the aspiring artist that

dismiss his son’s works, he sent some of

would cement his desire to pursue painting

Bernède’s pictures to her.

professionally. However, unlike Bendall, he was not born into wealth. The son of a local cabinet maker, Bernède’s desire to become

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“My style was innovative; and, therefore, unsettling” - Georges Bernède

Contrary to all expectation, Mildred liked

Though the Second World War brought

what she saw and encouraged the young

many changes in its wake, the profoundly

Bernède, giving him books on André

conservative

Lhote and Dusnoyer de Segonzac. What

Bordeaux would not warm to Abstraction

would begin in 1945 as a correspondence

until the late 1950s, decades after it had

course between the two painters would

become a recognised movement in Paris. But

soon blossom into a lasting and fruitful

Bernède continued to push the boundaries

friendship. Bendall would instil in Bernède

of the accepted and the exhibitions of

the ethos of a true colourist, advising him

his works at the 1946 Salon de Mai of the

to “think of suggesting space and volume

‘Artistes Indépendants Bordelais’ and his

by colour.” As can be seen in his still life

piece La Bicyclette at the 1949 ‘Salon des

works such as C066 - Composition 64-2:

Artistes Indépendants Bordelais’ caused a

Nature Morte à la Chaise Bleue (1964), he

scandal and were considered nonsense. As

readily adopted Bendall’s technique of

Bernède himself remarked: “My style was

building a composition with colour, here

innovative; and, therefore, unsettling.”

artistic

communities

of

in rich autumnal tones, instead of shapes.

Eventually, she would guide him to transpose

Undeterred, Bernède continued to paint

what he felt instead of painting what he saw.

in

Bendall also tirelessly promoted his work

support. Thus, like his tutor, Bernède

with the ‘Indépendents Bordelais’, where

would not suffer the pressures to conform

his paintings hung alongside her roster of

to commercial demands or intellectual

avant-garde masters.

expectations. He was able to explore art

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solitude

with

Bendall’s

continued

Georges Bernède in his studio, Monségur, France.

freely and his style naturally developed

her mountain landscapes from the mid and

into gestural abstraction. From 1968-84, he

late 1950s hint at it, but their construction

would depart from the full colour palette

is more akin to Cubism, whilst the colour

of vivid colours favoured by Bendall and

and brushwork remains rooted in Fauvism.

explore subtler applications of earthy tones

But this does not mean Bendall’s oeuvre

punctuating dramatic swathes of black and

was any less daring compared to Bernède’s.

white paint. After the mid-1980s Bernède’s

Taken in the context of conservative 1930s

palette

entirely

Bordeaux, her body of work was extremely

monochromatic, with occasional hues of

bold. She paved the way for Bernède’s and

brown and blue, as shown in his oil on

many other Bordelais artists’ unfettered

canvas C049 - Composition 88-16 (1988), his

artistic progression. Bernède owes much

preoccupation centering instead on the

to his teacher, whose advice on colour he

movement and energy fundamental to the

would heed until the end of his career, even

act of painting itself.

when his palette was dramatically reduced

would

become

almost

to only two: “It is after all by colour that you will express yourself.”

Whilst Bernède would grow to fully embrace abstraction, Bendall would only ever flirt with it. Works such as Red Sails (c.1955) and

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AJF

Mildred BENDALL /1891 - 1977

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1. Country Table c. 1915 Oil on canvas 45 x 54 cm Signed with studio stamp verso

2. Hillside View c. 1920 Watercolour 24 x 32 cm Signed with studio stamp verso 7

3. Zinneas and Sweeatpeas c. 1920 Oil on canvas 46 x 55 cm Signed with studio stamp verso 8

4. Vue de Collioure Oil on panel 49.5 x 61 cm Signed lower left

c. 1928

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10

5. Tigerlilies c. 1928 Oil on canvas 81 x 63.5 cm Signed lower left

11

6. Poppies and Foxgloves Oil on canvas 59 x 72 cm Signed lower left

c. 1930

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7. Bouquet and Harbour c. 1935 Oil on canvas 50 x 65 cm Signed with studio stamp verso

14

8. The Farmhouse, Lot et Garonne Watercolour 26 x 35 cm Signed with studio stamp verso

c. 1935

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9. Barques c. 1935 Oil on paper laid on canvas 46 x 55 cm Signed lower left

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10. Mountain Landscape c. 1950 Oil on paper laid on panel 48 x 56 cm Signed with studio stamp verso

11. Sea Forms c. 1950 Oil on canvas 50 x 62 cm Signed lower right Signed with studio stamp verso

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12. Organic Forms c. 1950 Oil on canvas 38 x 46 cm Signed with studio stamp verso

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13. Red Sails c. 1955 Oil on paper laid on panel 64.5 x 48.5 cm Signed with studio stamp verso

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14. Yellow Composition c. 1963 Oil on paper laid on hardboard 65.5 x 44 cm Signed with studio stamp verso

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Georges BERNÈDE /

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b. 1926

15. C061 - Composition 58 1958 Oil on canvas 38.5 x 53.5 cm Signed and dated lower right

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16. C059 - Composition 58 Oil on canvas 41.5 x 63 cm Signed lower right

c. 1958

17. C065 - Composition 62-2 - Nature Morte Oil on canvas 50 x 60 cm Signed and dated lower right

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1962

18. C066 - Composition 64-2 - Nature Morte à la Chaise Bleue Oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm Signed and dated lower right Signed and dated verso

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1964

19. C006 - Composition 64-1 1964 Oil on canvas 66 x 51 cm Signed and dated lower right Signed and dated verso

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20. C034 - Composition 80-32 1980 Oil on canvas 54 x 73 cm Signed and dated lower right

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21. C032 - Composition 83-3 - Ombre et Lumière Paysage 1983 Oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm Signed and dated lower right Signed and dated verso

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22. C009 - Composition 84-24 1984 Oil on canvas 100 x 81 cm Signed and dated lower right Signed and dated verso 23. C037 - Composition 84-25 1984 Oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm Signed and dated lower right Signed and dated verso

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24. C016 - Composition 87 1987 Oil on canvas 81 x 100 cm Signed and dated lower right Signed and dated verso

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25. C049 - Composition 88-16 1988 Oil on canvas 116 x 89 cm Signed and dated lower centre Signed and dated verso 26. C048 - Composition 89 Oil on canvas 65 x 50 cm Signed and dated verso

1989

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Facing title page: detail of cat. 4.

Facing page: detail of cat. 20.

All artwork © Whitford Fine Art, London.

Text © 2021 An Jo Fermon Edited and designed by Francesca Charlton-Jones, Whitford Fine Art, London.

Published by Whitford Fine Art, London.

All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Photography: Paul Murphy Ltd and Mario Bettella

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