Maurice DENIS (1870 - 1943) - Lot 162

Maurice DENIS (1870 - 1943) Le Goûter sur la cale - soir or Le Goûter au Pouldu Ink and black, gray and brown ink wash. Signed lower right. Inscriptions: "Drawing for catalog lower right". Sheet size: 20 x 23.5 cm Subject : 15.5 x 19.5 cm Provenance : - MM. Bernheim Jeune et fils, Paris, 1900. - Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, 1987. - Colin Clarke, London. By descent. Exhibitions : - Works by Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Ibels, Aristide Maillol, Hermann Paul, Ranson, Roussel, Sérusier, Vallotton, Vuillard, Galerie Bernheim Jeune et fils, Paris, April 2 - 22, 1900. - Nineteenth Century French Drawings, Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, June - July 1987, no. 33. Bibliography : - Works by Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Ibels, Aristide Maillol, Hermann Paul, Ranson, Roussel, Sérusier, Vallotton, Vuillard, exhibition catalog, MM. Bernheim Jeune et fils, Paris 1900, reproduced on the catalog cover. - Nineteenth Century French Drawings, exhibition catalog, Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, London, 1987, no. 33. Maurice Denis and his family spent the summer of 1899 at Le Pouldu, on the south coast of Brittany. Eva, sister of the painter's wife Marthe, accompanied the couple and their two children. During this stay by the sea, Denis drew his subjects mainly from his immediate surroundings, frequently using his family as models for his figure compositions. Our drawing shows a scene near the Hotel Poitier in Le Pouldu, where Denis and his family stayed. Marthe and Eva offer a snack to the artist's eldest daughter, Noëlle, who is seated in sailor's costume and fashionable hat on a bench next to a crab trap, while on the left, a Breton woman holds the baby, Bernadette, born in April 1899. To the right, two little girls hop away into the background. Denis' treatment of the scene conveys a sense of intimacy and familiarity. This drawing was inspired by the painting of the same title in the Musée d'Orsay, which Denis considered one of his most important works. Painted between summer 1899 and March 1900, it represents a decisive moment for the Nabis group and for Denis himself. The work combines the classical tradition with elements characteristic of the Nabi aesthetic. In the drawing, Denis reduces the size of the motif and limits his palette to shades of gray and brown. Yet he loses none of the charm and lightness of the painting, with its playful lines, flowing patterns and summery light, the evening sun illuminating the silhouettes of the trees in the background. Not surprisingly, this drawing was chosen for reproduction on the cover of the catalog for the important Nabis exhibition held at the Galerie Bernheim Jeune in Paris in April 1900. The exhibition included works by Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Henri-Gabriel Ibels, Aristide Maillol, Hermann Paul, Paul Ranson, Ker-Xavier Roussel, Paul Sérusier, Félix Vallotton and Édouard Vuillard. Nine paintings by Denis are featured in this exhibition, including Le Goûter sur la cale - soir. A comparable drawing by Denis, of the same subject and similar size, was previously in the collection of Antoine Terrasse, in Paris.