Denis, Maurice

(1870-1943)

   painter, engraver, writer

   Born in Granville, Maurice Denis in 1888, at the Académie Julian in Paris met paul sérusier, who introduced him to the synthesized style of paul gauguin. Denis joined the symbolist movement and with Sérusier founded the nabis group, becoming its main theorist. His works (above all, family and intimate scenes) reflect the esthetic of Art Nouveau and the Japanese-inspired style that was then in fashion. After two visits to Italy, in 1895 and 1897, where he was influenced by Nazarenes, a group who wanted to revive medieval Christian artistic values, and the fresco-artists of the 14th and 15th centuries, Denis turned completely to religious painting, to which he tried to introduce modern techniques, and a return to the style of the "primitives." In 1919, he founded the Ateliers d'art sacré. Denis also did large decorative murals (Théâtre des Champs-Élysée, Paris 1912-13), but could not find the proper mode for his modernist theories (Théories, 1912; Nouvelles Théories sur l'art moderne et sur l'art sacré, 1922).