Brief aan Andries Bonger Possibly 1899

This is a letter written in pen by the French artist Émile Bernard, likely in the late 1880s or early 1890s. Bernard, associated with the Post-Impressionist circle, addressed the letter to Andries Bonger, a Dutch art collector and a close friend of Vincent van Gogh. The letter offers us a glimpse into the personal and artistic networks of the time. It highlights the importance of personal connections and correspondence in circulating ideas and forging artistic alliances. Written in French, the language of the European artistic elite, it’s a form of communication that reflects the institutional and social structures in which artists operated. Historians can examine such letters alongside other archival material, like exhibition catalogs, reviews, and biographical accounts, to better understand the social conditions that shaped artistic production during this period. This approach helps us recognize that art is not created in a vacuum.