Bernard claims (in the end of his text) to have written this article in Aix in March 1904. Actually, it must have taken its final version later, since it contains important quotes drawn from Cézanne's letters of May 12 and 26. This article (pages 17 to 30 of the issue of July 1904 of Occident), although known among scholars, was somehow eclipsed, in the studies about Cézanne, by the two texts from Mercure de France which constitute the Souvenirs sur Paul Cézanne... and its various re-editions as a book. The article in Occident is mostly dedicated to Bernard's general views on art, but it offers, beyond the famous compilation of Cézanne's opinions, apparently textual quotes of the artist and some observations, at times remarkable, about his working methods and his evolution as a painter. The comments on Pissarro and the Auvers period seem to be precise. As for the authenticity of the "opinions", one must have in mind, on the one hand, that Bernard cares about signaling, many times in this article, the occasions in which he quotes Cézanne's own words and, on the other hand, that the "opinions" themselves are complemented with excerpts from letters, what allows one to suppose that the whole section is constituted of authentic quotes. P. M. Doran
modern art; painting; Paul Cézanne; Emile Bernard
