Denis Maurice

French symbolist artist, art theorist, member of the Nabis group. The future artist was born in 1870 in the town of Granville, on the banks of the English Channel. From a young age, Maurice dreamed of painting religious paintings. Maurice received a classical education at Condorcet College. At the same time, he also took painting lessons and copied old masters. In 1888, Denis entered the Académie Julian and then the School of Fine Arts. Maurice was fascinated by synthetism in those days. At an exhibition of synthetic artists in one of the cafeterias, he became acquainted with the works of Gauguin, which captivated young Maurice. He was also on good terms with symbolist writers and illustrated their books more than once. Like other artists, Denis worked in different fields. In addition to painting and graphics, he drew sketches of carpets, cardboards for mosaics and stained glass. In 1890, Denis created the Nabi group. All his fellow artists became members of this group. Among them, the most prominent were Pierre Bonnard, Paul Sérusier and Edouard Vuillard. In 1891 he took part in an exhibition at the Lebarque Gallery entitled "Impressionists and Symbolists". The first decorative works of Maurice date back to the 1890s: lampshades in the house of the musician Chasson, a series of panels “Legend in St. Hubert." During these years, Denis's painting was unique and original. Despite traveling to Tuscany and Umbria in 1895 and 1897, his decorative paintings became increasingly campy and uninfluenced by the art of the Italian Renaissance. The artist's fame is growing, and he receives quite a lot of orders. In 1908-09, Denis created a series of magnificent panels “The History of Psyche”. In 1909, he went to Moscow personally to install these paintings for the customer. In 1913 he painted the lampshades of the theater on the Champs-Elysees, and in 1917 he painted the Church of Saint-Paul in Geneva. In 1924, he painted the dome of the Petit Palais, and four years later he painted the ceiling of the staircase of the Senate building in Paris. In 1919 Denis founded the Workshop of Church Art. In 1932, Maurice Denis became an academician of painting. In addition, he was an excellent art theorist. He outlined his aesthetic views in two works - “Theories”, “New Theories”. These works had a significant influence on young artists. The death of Maurice Denis turned out to be as absurd as his life was full of meaning: he died under the wheels of a truck that hit him.