Brief aan Héloïse Bernard-Bodin 1878 - 1941

This letter to Héloïse Bernard-Bodin was written by Emile Bernard sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century using ink on paper. The act of writing itself is laid bare, a direct outpouring from the artist’s mind onto the page, where words tumble onto the surface with an unmediated quality, full of energy and drive. Imagine Bernard hunched over his writing desk, the nib scratching urgently across the page as thoughts and observations take shape. I feel a strange intimacy looking at this letter, as though eavesdropping on a conversation. The texture of the writing— the loops, the pressure, the crossings out— all convey the artist's intent. It reminds me of Cy Twombly’s scribbled paintings. The blue ink feels immediate and raw. The letter reminds us that artists are constantly in dialogue, responding to one another's ideas, and building upon the rich tapestry of art history. Painting, or in this case writing, becomes a form of embodied expression, a way of thinking through feeling, allowing for ambiguity and multiple readings.