Maurice Denis Quotes (17 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

Maurice Denis: 17 quotes0 likes

Famous Maurice Denis Quotes

“The sublime is to approach the subject or wall with an attitude that is grand, noble, and in no way petty..”

Quote, 1922; from Bouillon 2006, p. 89; as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [35] 1921 and later

“Don't lose sight of the essential objectives of painting, which are expression, emotion, delectation; to understand the means, to paint decoratively, to exalt form and color.”

Maurice Denis

Quote from Denis' Journal, 1930; as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [43] 1921 and later

“.. the classical aesthetic offers us at the same time a method of thinking and a method of wanting to be, a moral and at the same time a psychology... The classical tradition as a whole, by the logic of the effort and the greatness of results, is in some way parallel with the religious tradition of humanity.”

Maurice Denis

Quote from Denis's essay 'Les Arts a Rome', 1898; as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [22] Denis made Jan. 1895 his first visit to Rome, where the works of Raphael and Michaelangelo in the Vatican made a strong impression upon him. 1890 - 1920

“To synthesize is not necessarily to simplify in the sense of suppressing certain parts of the object: it is to simplify in the sense of rendering intelligible. It is, in short, to put in hierarchic order: to set each picture to a single rhythm, to a dominant; it is sacrifice, to subordinate — to generalize.”

Maurice Denis

Quote, 1907 from Denis' text 'Synthetism'; as cited in Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics, Herschel Browning Chipp, ‎Peter Selz - 1968, p. 105
1890 - 1920

“I believe that art should sanctify nature.”

Maurice Denis

Nouvelles théories sur l'art moderne..., 1922

“The profoundness of our emotions comes from the sufficiency of these lines and these colors to explain themselves.... everything is contained in the beauty of the work.”

Maurice Denis

Quote 1890, from Denis' essay published in the review 'Art et Critique'; as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [13] In August 1890, Denis consolidated his new ideas and presented them in a famous essay published in the review 'Art et Critique'. In his essay, he termed the new movement 'neo-traditionaism', in opposition to the 'progressism' of the Neo-impressionists, led by Seurat 1890 - 1920

“Art is no longer a purely visual experience.... it is a work of our intellect triggered by nature.... the imagination again become the queen of our strengths and we liberate our sensitivity.”

Maurice Denis

Nouvelles théories sur l'art moderne..., 1922

“Painting is first of all the art of imitation, and not the servant of some imaginary 'purity”

Maurice Denis

as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [42] Nouvelles théories sur l'art moderne..., 1922

“Remember that a picture, before being a battle horse, a female nude or some sort of anecdote, is essentially a flat surface covered with colors assembled in a certain order.”

Maurice Denis

1890 - 1920

Maurice Denis Quotes about art

“Decorative and edifying. That is what I want art to be before anything else.”

Maurice Denis

as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [41] Nouvelles théories sur l'art moderne..., 1922

“Art remains a sure refuge, the hope of a reason in life from now on, and the consoling thought that little beauty manifests itself in our lives, and that we are continuing the work of Creation... Therefore the work of art has merit, inscribed in the marvelous beauty of flowers, of light, in the proportion of trees and shape of waves, and the perfection of faces; to inscribe our poor and lamentable life of suffering, of hope and of thought.”

Maurice Denis

Quote, 24 March 1895, from Denis' Journal; as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [16] 1890 - 1920

“Art is the sanctification of the nature, of that nature found in everyone who is content to live.”

Maurice Denis

2 Quotes from Denis' 1906 essay 'The Sun'; as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [29] 1890 - 1920

“.. Every work of art is a transposition, a caricature, the passionate equivalent of a sensation received.”

Maurice Denis

Nouvelles théories sur l'art moderne..., 1922

“Art is no longer a visual sensation that we gather, like a photograph, as it were, of nature. No, it is a creation of our spirit, for which nature is only the occasion.”

Maurice Denis

Quote of Denis, 1909: from Bouillon 2006, pp. 17-18; as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [9] 1890 - 1920

Maurice Denis Quotes about nature

“What amazement, followed by what a revelation! In place of windows opening on nature, like the impressionists, these were surfaces which were solidly decorative, powerfully colorful, bordered with brutal strokes, partitioned.”

Maurice Denis

Quote of Denis, 1909: from Bouillon 2006, pp. 17-18; as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [9] In 1889, Denis was captivated by an exposition of works of Paul Gauguin and his friends at the Cafe Volponi, on the edge of the Paris Universal Exposition, that year 1890 - 1920

“Think of late paintings where Christ is the central figure... Remember the large mosaics of Rome. Reconcile the employment of large-scale decorative means and the direct emotions of nature.”

Maurice Denis

Quote, March 1895, from Denis' Journal; as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Denis - reference [23] 1890 - 1920

“The common error of us all [in late Impressionism] was to search above all for the light. It would have been better first to search for the Kingdom of God and his justice, that is to say for the expression of our spirit in beauty, and the rest would have arrived naturally.”

Maurice Denis

1890 - 1920