Gaston Bernheim-Jeune

Identity:

Gaston Bernheim-Jeune, a Parisian art dealer, was the son of the art dealer and publisher, Alexandre Bernheim-Jeune (1839-1915). His grandfather Joseph Bernheim was a colourman and artists supplier in Besançon. Gaston had an elder brother Joseph (Josse) and a sister Gabrielle who married the painter Félix Vallotton in 1899.

Life:

Gaston Bernheim-Jeune's father moved to Paris in 1863 and set up a gallery there in 1865 on the Rue Laffitte, apparently on the advice of Gustave Courbet. He knew Eugène Delacroix and Camille Corot and had a particular interest in the work of the Barbizon school and in that of Théodule Ribot, whose work he exhibited in his gallery in 1887 and 1890. Part of the familys business was established in Brussels as early as 1867 and the family seems to have moved there during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/71.

After their return to Paris, the Bernheim-Jeune family became interested in the Impressionists and began buying works by Camille Pissarro, Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir, sometimes making joint purchases with Paul Durand-Ruel. They also owned shares in the Galerie Georges Petit. They held an exhibition of the work of Vincent van Gogh in 1901 and of Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard in 1906.

Gaston, although initially a dealer with the family firm, later himself became an artist, painting under the name Gaston de Villers. Both Bonnard and Vuillard painted portraits of the family (see Vuillard's Messrs Josse and Gaston Bernheim-Jeune and their Sons Jean and Claude, 1905; and Bonnard's Bernheim-Jeune Brothers, 1921; both in the Musée dOrsay, Paris).

In February 1899 Gaston wrote to Whistler: 'On the recommendation of Mr Theodore Duret, our friend, I take the liberty of informing you that we have at this moment a picture of yours. Thinking that it would be pleasant for you to see it, we will give ourselves the pleasure of submitting it to you; this will give us the very great pleasure of making your acquaintance' (GUW #00294).

However, the family's connection with Whistler was not entirely satisfactory. When Whistler was hard up he sold some unfinished canvases, including The Girl in Red y312 and Violet and Blue: The Red Feather y503, to the Parisian dealer Hessele who apparently sold them to Bernheim; later ,when one was sold by the London dealer McLean, Whistler tried to retrieve them, saying that they had been stolen from his Paris studio. Bernheim then threatened to sue Whistler for slander and Whistler dropped the case. (see Alice Butt (1) y437).

Bibliography:

Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 ; Whiteley, Linda, 'Bernheim-Jeune', The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, ed. L. Macy.