The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 17, 2025

The Nymphs

1890

Émile Bernard

(French, 1868–1941)
France, 19th century
Woodcut, hand-colored with watercolor
Sheet: 59.1 x 47.8 cm (23 1/4 x 18 13/16 in.); Image: 47.5 x 35 cm (18 11/16 x 13 3/4 in.)
Gift of the Print Club of Cleveland in honor of the museum's one-hundredth anniversary 2015.152
Location: Not on view

Description

Before he had reached age 20, the precocious Bernard worked alongside Paul Gauguin and engaged in a lively correspondence with Vincent van Gogh. Toward the end of 1889, Van Gogh observed a shift in the young artist’s work and noted in a letter to his sister, “Bernard is trying to do elegant, modern figures in the manner of ancient Greek and Egyptian art.” The elongated, seemingly weightless forms in The Nymphs reflect Bernard’s stylistic evolution. This vividly hand-colored woodcut is one of only three known impressions of this print.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Reproduced: P. 68
    Lemonedes, Heather. “Acquisitions 2015.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 56, no. 2 (March/April 2016): 18-19. Reproduced: p. 18; Mentioned: p. 19, 22
  • Recent Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 17-June 7, 2018).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (03/17/2018-06/06/2018): "Recent Acquisitions 2014-2017"
  • {{cite web|title=The Nymphs|url=false|author=Émile Bernard|year=1890|access-date=17 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.152