8/8/2019 The Nabis

1/1

The Nabis

The emergence of a new artistic movement

During the summer of 1888, a group of artists from the Julian academy who shared the sameartistic concerns united under the name Nabis, meaning prophet in Hebrew. They initially

included Paul Srusier, Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Ranson and Henri-Gabriel Ibels, then

Edouard Jean Vuillard and Ker Xavier Roussel, and finally Aristide Maillol and Flix

Valloton. Enthusiasts of symbolic literature and esoteric texts, they met every month for

dinners during which they discussed and defined a new style of painting._ Paul Srusier soon

became an emblematic figure in the group, which recognized the manifesto of the aestheticthey intended to develop in his painting The Talisman(1888, Orsay Museum). Painted

according to advice from Paul Gauguin during his stay in Pont-Aven (How do you see thesetrees []? They are yellow. So add some yellow; this bluish shadow, paint it with pure

ultramarine []), this Bois dAmour landscape in fact presents all the major characteristicsof Nabis painting: synthetic forms identified from a Prussian blue or black outline; surface

flatness; intensity of colours.

The two sides of the NabisTwo distinct focuses can be distinguished within the Nabis. The first, profoundly sacred, is

led by Denis and his desire to renew religious art. It owes a great deal to the primitive

simplification of forms announced by Paul Gauguin. The other, profane, more influenced by

Edgar Degas through its choice of subjects from modern life (portraits of elegant women,

scenes of middle-class homes, women bathing, etc.) frequently play on the juxtaposition of

decorative motifs (wall paper, printed fabrics) and unusual framing.

An avant-garde artistic language

Initially labelled syntheticism, the Nabis painting was soon renamed Neo-Traditionalism by

Maurice Denis who published The definition of Neo-Traditionalism in the journalArt et

Critiqueon 23rd and 30th August 1890. The first article remained famous for so precisely

defining the modernity of the approach: "Remember that a painting before being a battlehorse, a naked woman, or some anecdote is essentially a flat surface covered in colours in a

certain assembled order. Therefore the Nabis art, with its juxtaposition of coloured depths ofhighly contrasting values, can only constantly affirm its flatness.

Whether in relation to the mystical branch (Denis, Srusier, Ranson), influenced by earlyTuscan painters and Byzantine art, or the modern branch (Bonnard, Valloton, Vuillard),

inspired by Japanese prints and photography, all contributed to reinventing an artisticlanguage which would leave a long-lasting impression on ideas and contribute to the

emergence of the avant-gardes in the early 20th century, in particular Fauvism.