LES NABIS
In the 1890s a group of artists called Nabis, it had originated from 'prophet', gathered together in Paris againist impressionism. The Nabis thought the impressionists wanted only to capture fleeting moments on canvas. The Nabis wanted to create something they felt was more meaningful: they wanted to cause spiritual reactions in the viewers of their work. The group was comprised of Post-Impressionist artists who became interested in graphic art. Their emphasis on design was shared by the parallel Art Nouveau movement. Both groups also had close ties to the Symbolist painters. They became very influential in the field of graphic art. In addition to fine arts, members of the group also worked in printmaking, poster design, illustration, textiles, furniture, and set design.the Nabis maintained an egalitarian attitude toward materials and collaborated with patrons, designers, publishers, and dealers on decorative projects ranging from set designs to wallpaper, textiles, ceramics, and stained glass. Several of the artists created posters, illustrations, playbills, and other prints using the relatively new method of color lithography, which reproduced their characteristic flowing draftsmanship for mass audiences.
Many of these artists designed large-scale decorative schemes for specific interiors. Puvis de Chavannes, whose classicizing murals decorated some of the most important public buildings of the day, provided an important precedent. Sérusier and Denis were particularly influenced by Puvis' friezelike compositions set against flattened landscapes painted in muted tones. Works like Denis' Springtime also adopt Puvis' distinctive approach to history painting, which conveys abstract ideas, rather than actions or events, through idealized groups of static figures. Vuillard's Album series of 1895 adapts large-scale painting to the needs of a domestic interior. Matching the eclecticism of patrons Thadée and Misia Natanson, publishers of the avant-garde journal La Revue Blanche, these five paintings vary in size, motif, and color, and are linked only by their common theme of women and flowers. Unlike Puvis' murals, Vuillard's domestic series were not painted directly onto walls. Yet they were sometimes displayed unframed, pinned directly against patterned wallpaper, which emphasized continuity with their surroundings.
THE PIONEERS OF THE MOVEMENT
PIERRE BONNARD:
Pierre Bonnard started his painting career in Paris in the 1890s and, like the other Nabis members, was concerned with using colour to evoke a mood or a feeling. He produced paintings, more often than not, of Paris and produced lithographs and posters. He also designed furniture and stained glass. In addition to this, he is renowned for his nude portraits of his wife Marthe, who was his one time model and mistress. Like the rest of Nabis, his work was particularly important in the emergence of the Art Nouveau movement of the 1890s.
Bonnard, Dining Room In the Countrary, 1913
Bonnard, Self-Portrait,1889
JEAN-EDOUARD VUILLARD:
Jean-Édouard Vuillard studied with Bonnard in the Julian Academy in Paris. Like Bonnard, he admired Gauguin and Sérusier. Neither of them, however, agreed with Gauguin’s advocacy of pure colours for a broader palette. Vuillard’s early work consisted of small-scale prints, which were primarily colour lithographs of Parisian life. Later on, he often painted interior scenes and was said to be interested in the private world of the person, or their ‘interior’ life rather than a simple portrait of them. He often used textiles as a decorative aspect of the painting. Like the rest of Nabis, Vuillard believed that there should not be a distinction between fine art and decorative art. The pieces of art that he created were extremely diverse and ranged from large decorative panels, illustrations for theatre programmes and designs of theatre sets. He designed the set in Paris for two great plays by Ibsen, ‘The Master Builder’ and ‘Enemy of the People’. The Public Gardens is one of Vuillard’s most famous decorative projects. It was influenced by the tapestries from the Musée de Cluny. He became extremely interested in photography, and by the 1900s, he became more naturalistic and concerned with the aspects of light and space in his pictures.
MAURICE DENIS:
Maurice Denis was also a member of Les Nabis. In 1890, he published his famous article in the review ‘Art et Critique’, stating the ethos of the group. He was also associated with the Symbolist writers and illustrated books by André Gide and Paul-Marie Verlaine. Like the other members of Nabis, his artistic output was diverse. Apart from painting, he also designed carpets and decorated ceramics. In the 1890s, he undertook some large-scale decorative works and painted a ceiling for the composer,Amédée-Ernest Chausson,in 1894 and designed a series of panels for the collector, Cochin, in 1897. In addition to a wonderful painter and artist, he was also a prominent art theoretician during his time.
Maurice Denis - Annunciation, 1912.
GEORGES LACOMBE:
Georges Lacombe, Portrait of Paul Sérusier, 1894
PAUL RANSON:
Paul Ranson, Nabis Landscape, 1890
