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Nabis
(Encyclopedia Britannica)
Group
of artists who, through their widely diverse activities, were a
majorinfluence on the art produced in France during the late
19th century. Preaching that a work of art is the end product
and visual expression of an artist's synthesis of nature into
personal aesthetic metaphors and symbols, they paved the way for
the early 20th-century development of abstract and
nonrepresentational art.
The Nabis were greatly influenced by Japanese woodcuts, French
Symbolist painting, and English Pre-Raphaelite art. Their
primary inspiration, however, stemmed from the so-called
Pont-Aven school which centred upon the painter
Gauguin Paul.
Under Gauguin's direct guidance,
Serusier
Paul, the group's
founder, painted the first Nabi work, “Landscape at the Bois
d'Amour at Pont-Aven” (also called the “Talisman,” 1888).
Armed with his painting and the authority of Gauguin's
teachings, Serusier returned to Paris from Pont-Aven and
converted many of his artist friends, who received his aesthetic
doctrines as a mystical revelation. Assuming the name Nabis
(from Hebrew navi, “prophet,” or “seer”), the original members
of the group were the French artists
Denis
Maurice (with
Serusier the group's main theoretician),
Bonnard Pierre,
Henri-Gabriel Ibels,
Roussel Ker Xavier,
Ranson Paul,
Vuillard Edouard, and Rene Piot. Later, a Dutch painter, Jan Verkade,
and the Swiss-born
Vallotton Felix
joined the group, as did two
French sculptors,
Lacombe Georges
and
Maillol Aristide.
In 1891 the Nabis held their first exhibition, attempting in
their works to illustrate Denis's dictum: “A picture, before
being a war horse, a nude woman, or some anecdote, is
essentially a flat surface covered by colours in a certain
order.” They soon began to apply this idea to such varied works
as posters, stained glass, theatre sets, and book illustrations.
But dissensions and desertions quickly occurred within the
group, which finally disbanded in 1899. Only Vuillard and
Bonnard, who came to call themselves Intimists, and Maillol
continued to produce major works of art.
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