Primavera
circa 1894 -99
Back in the 1890s, Maurice Denis and his artist friends called themselves the 'Nabis'—Hebrew for prophets—because they wanted to bring a spiritual revolution to art. Instead of painting realistic trees, Denis gave us this dreamy, almost abstract world of soft blues and greens where figures float like ghosts in a sacred grove. He famously declared that a painting is essentially a flat surface covered with colors, and this piece is his manifesto in action. The scene, depicting a spiritual renewal or the arrival of Spring with a nude figure being blessed, feels less like a window into nature and more like a stained-glass window for the soul.
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