Valere Bernard (1860-1936), The Valley Of Hell At Les Baux De Provence, Oil On Panel Signed

Valère Bernard, born Valérie Marius Bernard on February 10, 1860 in Marseille where he died on October 9, 1936, was a French painter, engraver, writer and poet from Provence who spoke Occitan. He joined the Félibrige movement. He composed his first poems in Provençal and then began a fictional work in which he showed all his sensitivity and compassion for the humble and the marginalized. His friendship with the engraver Paul Blanc testifies to this; he is the godfather of his son Valère. Elected majoral of the Félibrige in 1894, he held the position of Capoulié (leader) from 1909 to 1919. A supporter of a renaissance of the Occitan language in all its linguistic varieties, he wrote in a language he developed to unify the dialects of Oc and Catalan, the Legend of Esclarmonde, then Lugar, a magic tale. In 1930, he was president of the Society of Occitan Studies, of which he was one of the founders. On January 22, 1903, he was elected to the 32nd seat of the Academy of Marseille. Professor of art history at the School of Fine Arts in Marseille, he became blind and died on October 6, 1936. He left behind a significant body of painted and engraved works, and his works continued to be published after his death.