Mildred Bendall French, 1891-1977
Organic Forms, c. 1950
Oil on canvas
38 x 46 cm
Signed with Studio stamp verso
Mildred Bendall Estate Inventory Number 1459
Mildred Bendall Estate Inventory Number 1459
Zola's definition of a work of art as a 'corner of nature seen through a temperament' could hardly be more appropriate than in the case of Mildred Bendall. Using painting...
Zola's definition of a work of art as a 'corner of nature seen through a temperament' could hardly be more appropriate than in the case of Mildred Bendall. Using painting as a meditative activity, Bendall applied colour as a means of expressing her feelings. Having trained in Bordeaux, Bendall's real formation took place in Paris in 1927. Here, Fauvist influences became apparent in her work whilst attending the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, where she met Albert Marquet and befriended Henri Matisse.
Bendall's expressive flower paintings featured in the Galerie de Paris alongside the works of Kees Van Dongen and Raoul Dufy. Having refused an offer of marriage from Paul Matisse, Bendall returned to Bordeaux where she arranged to exhibit the work of her Fauvist friends as part of an initiative to rejuvenate the conservative Bordeaux art scene. Bendall was a revered member of various avant-garde groups and was a founding member of The Société des Artistes Indépendants and Le Studio groups, the first to offer life drawing and painting classes in Bordeaux.
Whitford Fine Art has represented the Bendall Estate since 1987.
MUSEUMS: Musée d'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux.
Bendall's expressive flower paintings featured in the Galerie de Paris alongside the works of Kees Van Dongen and Raoul Dufy. Having refused an offer of marriage from Paul Matisse, Bendall returned to Bordeaux where she arranged to exhibit the work of her Fauvist friends as part of an initiative to rejuvenate the conservative Bordeaux art scene. Bendall was a revered member of various avant-garde groups and was a founding member of The Société des Artistes Indépendants and Le Studio groups, the first to offer life drawing and painting classes in Bordeaux.
Whitford Fine Art has represented the Bendall Estate since 1987.
MUSEUMS: Musée d'Art Moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux.
Provenance
The Estate of the Artist.
Exhibitions
1996, Mildred Bendall 1891 - 1977, Retrospective Exhibition, Whitford Fine Art, London.
2008, The Painting of Mildred Bendall: The Joy of Colour in Life and Nature, Retrospective Exhibition, Partridge Fine Art, London.
2009, Mildred Bendall, Galerie du Post-Impressionnisme, Paris.
2021, BENDALL / BERNÈDE: A Story of Painting in Bordeaux, Whitford Fine Art, London.Literature
Mildred Bendall 1891- 1977, Retrospective Exhibition, exhibition catalogue with introduction by Jenny Perry, Whitford Fine Art, London, 1996, ill. cat no. 35.
The Painting of Mildred Bendall: The Joy of Colour in Life and Nature, Retrospective Exhibition, exhibition catalogue with introduction by A.J. Fermon, Partridge Fine Art, London, 2008.
BENDALL / BERNEDE: A Story of Painting in Bordeaux, exhibition catalogue with introduction by A.J. Fermon, Whitford Fine Art, London, 2021, cat. no. 12, ill.