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
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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.
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