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The Bernheim-Jeune Story

It all begins in Besançon, the Doubs department of the Jura region near the Alps, in 1795. Joseph Bernheim, manufacturer and merchant of colors and supplies for artists, starts collecting his clients' paintings.

His son Alexander (1839-1915) befriends Delacroix, Corot and Gustave Courbet who paint in the region. In 1863 Alexander moves to Paris on Courbet's advice. He opens a gallery at 8, rue Laffite where he exhibits painters of the Barbizon school, and, beginning at 1874, the first impressionists before they receive any attention or public acclaim.

In 1901 Alexander organizes the first show of Vincent Van Gogh in Paris with the help of his sons Josse(1870-1941) and Gaston(1870-1953). These two young men will propel the Bernheim-Jeune gallery into the limelight of the modern art world.

In 1906 they open a gallery on 25, boulevard de la Madeleine. Josse and Gaston present Bonnard, Vuillard, Cezanne, Cross, Seurat, Van Dongen, Matisse, Douanier Rousseau, Raoul Dufy, Vlaminck, Modigliani, Utrillo. The Bernheim-Jeune Gallery becomes the center of the avant-garde.

In 1925 they move to the avenue Matignon, at the corner of rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré. The premises are inaugurated by the French president Gaston Doumergue on the occasion of the vernissage of "Masterpieces of the XIX and XX Century". Cezanne, Cross, Seurat, Van Dongen, Gauguin, Matisse, Douanier Rousseau, Raoul Dufy, Vlaminck, Modigliani, Utrillo, Renoir, are exhibited, and the gallery becomes the bastion of impressionism.

Bernheim-Jeune publish the fine arts review LE BULLETIN DE LA VIE ARTISTIQUE and books on painters.

Privileged relationships tie them to the masters of their times. Renoir, Bonnard, Vuillard, Carrière, do their family portraits. Artists, painters and sculptors like Rodin and Maillol are their intimate friends.

Paul CEZANNE (1839-1906)

In 1900 Paul Cézanne is still an unknown painter living in Aix-de-Provence with his wife, whose wealthy family supports them, even though she considers his paintings to be worthless. His paintings are piled up in the corner of the room he uses as a studio, gathering dust. On weekends Cézanne hires a car to drive to the Sainte-Victoire mountain to paint all day long and watch the patterns of the changing light. He always wears a bowler and a top coat. The locals of Aix call him "vieux fada" - old nutter. His contemporaries - with the exception of painters like Monet, Degas, Renoir - ignore him. But the Bernheim brothers visit regularly, collect his works, and exhibit Cézanne in their gallery, increasing his reputation. In 1908 they publish the first book on Paul Cézanne.

Claude MONET (1840-1926)

Monet's "Nympheas" have already established him as "maitre de l'impressionnism". He lives at Giverny, on the way to Bernheim's weekend estate at Villers-sur-Mer. Each time they drive past they stop for lunch at Monet's home to admire his paintings or show a masterpiece of their own collection, like a Courbet nude that impresses and moves the master of the nympheas. And on their way back from the sea they bring fresh seafood and fish for his relish. Monet has shortly cropped hair, a long white beard, wears an exquisite tweed costume with narrow legged pants, and has a deep melodious voice that enchants.

President Georges Clemenceau admires France's great painter to such extent that he personally allows Monet to drive to Paris to watch the quai de la Seine at sunset - his favorite past time - despite the gas rationing during World War I. Monet is one of the few to recognize the greatness of Cézanne, and, despite a falling out with Renoir, embraces Renoir as another master of impressionism.

August RENOIR (1841-1919)

A frequent visitor of the gallery Bernheim-Jeune and close friend of the family. His portraits decorate their homes. He never complains of his rheumatism that condemns him to a wheelchair. Fine bandages are wrapped around his fingers to protect him from the painful holding of the brush. The canvas needs to be moved so he can reach its borders. His onyx eyes, however, never tire, and his penetrating gaze scrutinizes his most famous works before he calls them finished.

Auguste RODIN (1840-1917)

Like Aristide Maillol(1861-1944), Rodin, the giant of XX century sculpture is another close friend of the Bernheims. Constantly working on his sculptures as on his esteem in the cloistered Parisian society, his reputation equals that of Michelangelo, although he never works his marble pieces alone, surrounding himself with a staff of assistants. His creative strength are clay and bronze. Finally recognized as the greatest French sculptor, the government provides him with the Hotel Biron as a studio that eventually becomes, together with his Meudon residence, the museum where his most famous works are exhibited.

Pierre BONNARD (1867-1947)

Bonnard is a lifelong companion of the Bernheim-Jeune gallery. The master who loves cats and dogs, lives a solitary existence with a neurasthenic and overly jealous wife, Marthe. His search for the absolute last stroke of color on his large canvases leads him spontaneously to retouch one of his exhibited paintings at the Palais du Luxembourg, before being discovered by a guard. In 1947, Bernheim-Jeune organizes in New York his last show shortly before his death. Afterwards the Bernheim-Jeune gallery publish Bonnard's entire work in a 4 volume "catalogue raisonée".

Henri MATISSE (1869-1954)

Matisse signs several contracts with the Bernheim-Jeune gallery, and is also an intimate friend of the family. His work remains a milestone in art expression from the impressionists to the post impressionists. His bold use of design and color has freed artists of figurative constraints. Matisse is avant-garde and leads, perhaps more than any other painter, the gallery to international acclaim before World War II.

In 1981 the decedents of Bernheim-Jeune, Michel and Guy-Patrice Dauberville, take over the management of the gallery. They're able to give a new renaissance to the Bernheim-Jeune tradition in discovering painters and sculptors whose work they promote in the family tradition. Both time and recognition will confirm their reputable eye in choosing artists whose value will become perennial.

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