Valère Bernard ( oc, Valèri Bernard; 10 February 1860 – 6 October 1936) was a Provençal painter, engraver, novelist and poet, writing in the Occitan language. He left an important body of graphic work, and his works continued to be published after his death.

Biography

He was born in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, though his family came originally from Avignon. At the age of 15 he entered the École des beaux-arts, Marseille, to study under Joanny Rave (1827–1887). Accepted by the

École des beaux-arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

, Paris, he was taught by

Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. According to ''Diccionario Enciclopedi ...

and

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (14 December 1824 – 24 October 1898) was a French painter known for his mural painting, who came to be known as "the painter for France". He became the co-founder and president of the Société Nationale des Beaux ...

. In 1896 his discovery of

Félicien Rops Félicien Victor Joseph Rops (7 July 1833 – 23 August 1898) was a Belgian artist associated with Symbolism and the Parisian Fin-de Siecle. He was a painter, illustrator, caricaturist and a prolific and innovative print maker, particularly in ...

immediately influenced his style of engraving and themes. He became friends with

Alfons Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decora ...

, who introduced him to the

lithographic Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

poster. Back in Marseille, his first exhibitions were greeted by critics with praise for his talent both in

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

and in painting. Among other things, he produced a series of engravings entitled ''Guerro'' (1893-1895), variations around the theme of death, of great graphic intensity, inspired by

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

. He then became friends with members of the

Félibrige The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...

, a literary and cultural association dedicated to promoting the Occitan language of Provence, and composed his first poems in the Marseilles dialect, and then a work of fiction in which he showed all his sensitivity and his compassion for the humble and marginalized. He was elected ''majoral'' of the Félibrige in 1894, then ''Capoulié'' (chief) from 1909 to 1919. He proved to be in favour of a revival of the Occitan language in all its linguistic varieties, and composed, in a language which he developed to unify the Occitan and

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

tongues, first ''Lugar, conte magic'', and then ''La Legenda d'Esclarmonda'' which was published a few months before his death at the age of 76. From 1930 to his death he was president of the Société d'études occitanes. On 22 March 1903 he was elected to the

Académie de Marseille The Académie de Marseille, officially the Académie des sciences, lettres et arts de Marseille, is a French learned society based in Marseille. It was founded in 1726 and includes those in the city involved in the arts, letters, and sciences. H ...

. Valère Bernard is buried in the Cimetière Saint-Pierre, Marseille. Valère Bernard - Capoulié du Félibrige.jpg, Photographed in 1910 as ''Capoulié'' of the

. EnterramentMistralVBernardt.jpg, Valère Bernard delivering a speech at the burial of

Frédéric Mistral Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; oc, Josèp Estève Frederic Mistral, 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was a French writer of Occitan literature and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel ...

Major works

* ''Li Ballado d'Aram es Ballades d'Airain' (1883). With French translation. * ''Li Cadarau es Charniers' (1884). With French translation. * ''Guerro'' (1893). 11 etchings, each illustrating one stanza of verse. * ''Bagatouni'' (1894). * ''La Pauriho: poèmes et eaux-fortes'' (1899). With French translation. * ''Long la mar latino: vesien'' (1908). With French translation. * ''Lei Bóumian'' (1910). * ''L'Aubre en flour: pouësio'' (1913) * ''Lugar: conte magic'' (1935). With French translation. * ''La Legenda d'Esclarmonda'' (1936) Posthumous publications * ''La Feruno'' (1938) * ' (1938). With French and Rodanenc translations. * ''Letanìo: pouesio'' (1946). With French translation. * ''Histoire de Herchies'' (1953) * ''La Légende de Jean de l'Ours: poèmes et eau-forte'' (1974). With French translation. * ''Mémoires: lettres au Docteur René Veuve'' (1978) * ''Jouglar felibre: Valère Bernard'' (1982). With French translation. * ''Dans le monde des rêves'' (1986) * ' (1986) * ''Ienoun'' (1987). Uncompleted poem. * ''Fragments du cours d'esthétique de Valère Bernard à l'Ecole des beaux-arts de Marseille'' (1989) * ''Angèlo Dàvi: rouman'' (1996). With French translation by Georges Ricard.

Gallery

Longchamp125 Bernard soleil.jpg, Valère Bernard-Marion.jpg, Valère Bernard - La Vigne.jpg, Valère Bernard-Paul Ruat.jpg, Longchamp126 Bernard J.B.Olive.jpg,

Footnotes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Valère 1860 births 1936 deaths 19th-century French engravers 19th-century French male artists 19th-century French novelists 19th-century French painters 19th-century French poets 20th-century French engravers 20th-century French male artists 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French painters 20th-century French poets École des Beaux-Arts alumni Artists from Marseille French etchers Occitan-language poets Writers from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur