Maurice Denis was born in a small town Grandville, Normandy, in northern France. He went to Lycee Condorcet, where he met Roussel and Vuillard. He then went on to L'academie Julian and came to know Bonnard and Serusier there.
Serusier stayed in Bretagne, the north western region of France in 1888 when he was introduced to an artist by his artist friend Emile Bernard. The artist was Paul Gauguin. Serusier brought the paintings he had created under the guidance of Gauguin back to Paris and showed them to his friends. Denis and his friends learned from him about Gauguin's views about art and were deeply moved. Hence they formed Les Nabis in the same year.
"Nabis" means prophets in Hebrew. While placing an emphasis on profile lines, they used pure colors and their composition of the paintings was two dimensional. By doing so, decorative features of the paintings were more reinforced. Their activities expanded into decoration of theaters and churches and poster making.
Denis played a very important role as he contributed to Les Nabis not only by creating paintings but by supporting the school with his theory. He often traveled to Italy and created paintings influenced by the Renaissance period classical art, as well. He was also influenced by Japanese art through Ukiyo-e.
This painting "Wave" was painted about 27 years after the foundation of Les Nabis. Denis had very diverse activities at this time including creating illustrations for religious books. Through his painting style, we can get a sense of the theory of Les Nabis. The bold composition of the waves, rocks and people let shapes and colors appear in the way they were intended and give voluminous and vibrant impressions.
(Reference)
Catalog of "Maurice Denis Exhibition" (Gallery Art Point,1983)
The Complete Works of World Art Vol. 24: the End of the Century and Impressionism", (Shogakukan Inc, 1996)
Catalog of "Les Nabis and Japan Exhibition" (Niigata Prefectural Museum of Art, 2000)
Anecdote
The current Crown Prince visited Ohara Museum of Art twice so far, the first time being when he was only a fourth grader or so.
He leisurely looked at each painting while the director of the museum, Mr. Fujita then, explained to him.
The director said, in front of this painting, "This painter was influenced by such Japanese woodprint as Ukiyo-e."
"Is it (Ando) Hiroshige?"
"Probably (Katsushika) Hokusai, as strong waves remind us of "Great Wave Off Kanagawa" from the Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji series and the red color of the rocks appears similar to that of "the Red Fuji".
"I see."
This was the conversation two of them had.
The director was impressed because the crown prince was only a grammar school student but he already knew about Ando Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai."
This painting was presented to Torajiro Kojima in 1920 when he visited Denis's studio during his second journey to Europe.
The quotation from Mr. Shinichiro Fujita, the former director of Ohara Museum of Art
Wave
Commentary
Maurice Denis was born in a small town Grandville, Normandy, in northern France. He went to Lycee Condorcet, where he met Roussel and Vuillard. He then went on to L'academie Julian and came to know Bonnard and Serusier there.
Serusier stayed in Bretagne, the north western region of France in 1888 when he was introduced to an artist by his artist friend Emile Bernard. The artist was Paul Gauguin. Serusier brought the paintings he had created under the guidance of Gauguin back to Paris and showed them to his friends. Denis and his friends learned from him about Gauguin's views about art and were deeply moved. Hence they formed Les Nabis in the same year.
"Nabis" means prophets in Hebrew. While placing an emphasis on profile lines, they used pure colors and their composition of the paintings was two dimensional. By doing so, decorative features of the paintings were more reinforced. Their activities expanded into decoration of theaters and churches and poster making.
Denis played a very important role as he contributed to Les Nabis not only by creating paintings but by supporting the school with his theory. He often traveled to Italy and created paintings influenced by the Renaissance period classical art, as well. He was also influenced by Japanese art through Ukiyo-e.
This painting "Wave" was painted about 27 years after the foundation of Les Nabis. Denis had very diverse activities at this time including creating illustrations for religious books. Through his painting style, we can get a sense of the theory of Les Nabis. The bold composition of the waves, rocks and people let shapes and colors appear in the way they were intended and give voluminous and vibrant impressions.
(Reference)
Catalog of "Maurice Denis Exhibition" (Gallery Art Point,1983)
The Complete Works of World Art Vol. 24: the End of the Century and Impressionism", (Shogakukan Inc, 1996)
Catalog of "Les Nabis and Japan Exhibition" (Niigata Prefectural Museum of Art, 2000)
Anecdote
The current Crown Prince visited Ohara Museum of Art twice so far, the first time being when he was only a fourth grader or so.
He leisurely looked at each painting while the director of the museum, Mr. Fujita then, explained to him.
The director said, in front of this painting, "This painter was influenced by such Japanese woodprint as Ukiyo-e."
"Is it (Ando) Hiroshige?"
"Probably (Katsushika) Hokusai, as strong waves remind us of "Great Wave Off Kanagawa" from the Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji series and the red color of the rocks appears similar to that of "the Red Fuji".
"I see."
This was the conversation two of them had.
The director was impressed because the crown prince was only a grammar school student but he already knew about Ando Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai."
This painting was presented to Torajiro Kojima in 1920 when he visited Denis's studio during his second journey to Europe.
The quotation from Mr. Shinichiro Fujita, the former director of Ohara Museum of Art
Painting
Apple Picking
Small Table in Evening Dusk
Song of Songs (Le Cantique des Cantiques)
Haystacks
Waterlilies
Cliff of Gréville
Coutyard at the ‘Rondest House’, Pontoise
Woman Wearing a Hat with Silk Gauze
Delightful Land (Te Nave Nave Fenua)
All Things Die, But All Will Be Resurrected through God’s Love
Wave
Carriage and Pair
Three Dancers in Red Costume
Autumn Sea
Old Horse in the Wasteland
Landscape
Festival of Venis
Hair
Winter Orchard
Beethoven
Landscape of La Ferté-Milon
Annunciation