THE FIRST PERIOD OF MY PAINTING IS LOVE...: MAURICE DENIS

"The first period of my painting is love..."

Note by Maurice Denis, December 31st, 1939

Known as one of the leading figures of the Nabis and an active member in the renewal of sacred art at the turn of the twentieth century, Maurice Denis (1870-1943) also created a remarkable some sublime family scenes. Married to Marthe Meurier in 1893, Denis made her a central presence in much of his work, extending his artistic vision into the domestic sphere — his wife, children, and the family home. At this time, while his paintings were deeply infused with persona affection and tenderness, they never ceased to reflect his ongoing formal and pictorial explorations.

In 1890, Maurice Denis laid the theoretical foundations of his artistic practice with his celebrated assertion that a painting is, before all else, « a flat surface covered with colors assembled in a certain order ». With this statement, he proposed an art in which formal construction itself becomes the vehicle of emotion. Rather than illustrating feeling, Denis sought to evoke it through the intrinsic means of painting and the pictorial language he developed: tightly cropped compositions, broad areas of flat color, undulating linear rhythms, and subtle harmonies of tone. Inspired by the lessons of Paul Gauguin and Paul Sérusier, this approach was evident from the outset of his career in a series of key paintings and drawings. The works presented in this exhibition bear eloquent witness to these early explorations. From Procession nuptiale (Wedding Procession) to Noële et sa mère (Noële and Her Mother), and Portrait de Marthe à la capeline rose (Portrait of Marthe in the Pink Hat), these paintings demonstrate Denis's ability both to embrace and to transcend the principles of Cloisonnism. His pictorial investigations subsequently became inseparable from scenes of everyday life, in which intimacy itself emerged as both subject and artistic material. A clear convergence thus developed between his formal theories and his personal life.

This attention to pictorial structure is accompanied by a subtle orchestration of gazes that draws the viewer into the scene rather than keeping them at a distance. In Le berceau du petit frère (The Baby Brother's Cradle), for example, while one of the artist's daughters bends over her younger sibling, Denis captures the infant's gaze, inviting us into the pictorial space. The same device appears in Bébé au sein (Baby suckling), where one of the figures looks directly at the viewer, drawing us into this private moment. This manner of positioning the viewer as a witness, almost an accomplice, distinguishes Maurice Denis’ family scenes from the socially or ceremonially oriented group portraits that punctuate the history of art.

The matter of the gaze becomes especially significant in Denis's portraits of Marthe. Art historian John Berger demonstrated how Western painting has long constructed the female figure as the object of a dominant male gaze, with the woman's body presented both to the viewer and to the painter. Art historian Griselda Pollock further developed this analysis by examining the power relations embedded within the poses and spatial conventions of female representation. Denis's portraits of his wife, however, seem at least in part to resist this model. In Portrait de Marthe aux Rubans (Portrait of Marthe with Ribbons), the pose is undeniably sensual: her chest subtly revealed, while a ribbon accentuates the curves of her waist. Yet the treatment in no way suggests detachment or any form of appropriation. Her face retains a quiet reserve, and the hand resting gently against her breast simultaneously draws attention to it without, however revealing too much. Marthe is a muse, but not one subjected to a distant or voyeuristic gaze. Instead, Denis's portraits reveal intimacy, mutual affection, and companionship, reshaping the triangular relationship between artist, model, and wife.

The works on display also offer a distinctive perspective on the representation of domestic life, a favorite subject among several of Denis's fellow Nabis, notably Édouard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard. Yet Denis's treatment remains singular. Whereas Bonnard and Vuillard often dissolve the figure into the surrounding decorative environment, Denis preserves a clarity of construction and a frontal presence that are uniquely his own. His figures are carefully isolated, precisely framed, and defined by sharp contours, a treatment of the family scene that already anticipates the compositional clarity of his later religious works.

This sense of frontal clarity reaches its fullest expression in Denis's scenes of motherhood and childhood. In The Poetics of Space, the philosopher Gaston Bachelard observed that certain places and objects—the house, the cradle, the nest—embody images of sheltered happiness, an idea that resonates strongly with the intimate worlds created by Denis.

This atmosphere of serenity extends beyond the domestic sphere into several of his landscapes, such as Pommier en fleurs (Apple Trees in Blossom). Here Denis captures the magic of spring through vibrant touches of white and violet set against a luminous blue sky. Bathed in light, the apple tree seems to envelop the entire scene—a motif of renewal that, on the scale of the landscape, echoes the same process of blossoming.

The profound sense of happiness that emanates from this work ultimately emerges as one of the central themes in the artist’s oeuvre. Through his portraits and landscapes, Maurice Denis invites us to savor time and to appreciate each fleeting moment in all its uniqueness.

— Gwendoline Corthier-Hardoin

Art historian and critic