1. Maurice Denis : des métamorphoses d’Éros à Clio
- Author
-
Gilles Genty
- Subjects
Denis (Maurice) ,Denis (Marthe) ,Denis (Lisbeth) ,Symbolism ,Christianity ,France ,19th-20th C ,Maeterlinck (Maurice) ,Mallarmé (Stéphane) ,Munch (Edvard) ,iconography Virgin of Mercy ,St. Theresa of Lisieux ,Guardian Angel ,Sacred Conversation ,Painting ,Transcendence (philosophy) ,Scholasticism ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Art history ,The Symbolic ,Context (language use) ,Art ,Iconography ,Inscribed figure ,media_common - Abstract
Maurice Denis : the Metamorphoses of Eros to Clio. Maurice Denis (1870-1943) became famous through his theory of « synthesis » which, from 1890 on, led to the threshold of abstraction. On the other hand, a deeper study of his work’s themes has been neglected. Profoundly attached to the sensuality, which was initially repressed and later found transcendence in the symbolic register, these themes originate in the desire for the loved woman. Meanwhile, Denis evolved towards an iconography where the profane and the sacred are combined. Around 1910-1920 his theory itself came closer to Thomist philosophy and he adhered to the renewal of scholasticism encouraged by Pope Leo XIII. Denis’ Christian iconography is inscribed in a historical, philosophical and literary context which privileges comforting themes. In this way, the artist’s passage from sensual icons to devotional paintings might be explained., Genty Gilles. Maurice Denis : des métamorphoses d’Éros à Clio. In: Histoire de l'art, N°5-6, 1989. Iconographie. pp. 99-107.
- Published
- 1989