"Lady in Red," József Rippl-Rónai, 1898.

Hungarian artist Rippl-Rónai (1861-1927) doesn't get remembered the way he should.

After being trained as a pharmacist, he decided to study art in Budapest, and in 1888 he won a grant to study in Paris, where he joined up with my beloved Nabis. Under their tutelage, he had his first successes as an artist, and their influence stayed with him.

He returned to Budapest, and while it took him a while to get some recognition, he eventually was a success and now most historians regard him as Hungary's first artistic modernist.

He was a believer that his entire life should be reflecting his art, even how he dressed, and later in life he became fascinated by interior design and stained glass...which makes sense with this image, which could be a stained-glass window. He also stuck to the Nabi idea that art shouldn't be afraid to simply be beautiful.

From the Iparművészeti Múzeum, Budapest.

#Art #JozsefRipplRonai #LesNabis #WomenInArt #Modernism #ArtForArtsSake #BeautyForBeautysSake

"Cover for Love," Maurice Denis, 1898.

Denis (1870-1943) was first a member of the Nabis, then later a Symbolist, then later a Neo-Classicist, and his writings were a huge influence on Cubism and other modern art movements. A deeply religious man, he founded (after WWI) an artists' collective dedicated to decorating churches, designing stained glass windows, and producing sacred art.

In the 1890s, though, he was all about decorative art. This piece is the cover to a book of lithographs that tell an ambiguous tale of a woman's experiences with love...but it's hard to tell if she's falling in love with a man, or with Nature, or with her faith. The images are all soft and dreamlike, anc contain snatches of poetry, but the quotes do not correspond to the scenes depicted.

Between the wars, he also became a noted muralist, doing many murals in public buildings around his favorite themes, his faith and his belief in peace and humanism. He was a fervent anti-Nazi, and rejected France's Vichy government. It took an automobile accident to take him down; he was seemingly unstoppable.

He's not a familiar name, but he was an important figure in the development of modern art.

From the Art Institute of Chicago.

#Art #MauriceDenis #LesNabis #Lithograph #Amour

"The Bath," Felix Vallotton, 1894.

Swiss-born painter, writer, and printmaker Vallotton (1865-1925) was a member of my favorite art movement, the Nabis,, but also an important figure in bringing woodcuts to the modern age.

His early work was very detailed, but in the 1890s he began to explore using simple black-and-white coloring and opting for outlines and blocks of shade, rather than detail....which the Nabis encouraged.

His woodcuts could contain elements of social satire and commentary, although none of that seems evident here. Other woodcuts showed assorted domestic scenes, images of couples (possibly in clandestine affairs), portraits that bordered on caricature, and a number of images of anarchist street demonstrations. He also did a number of prints as book illustrations and theater programs.

After the Nabis drifted apart in 1900, he stuck to painting, with great success, but thanks to him, other printmakers began to experiment with woodcuts, bringing into a new century.

From the Clark, Williamstown, MA.

#Art #FelixVallotton #Woodcut #Print #LesNabis

"Le Bon marché," Felix Vallotton, 1893.

Born in Lausanne, Vallotton (1865-1925) was part of one of my favorite art movements, the Nabis. Highly respected as a painter, he was also an accomplished woodcut artist, as we can see here.

This is one of a series of prints he made depicting everyday life in Paris, although often with a satirical and critical eye. Vallotton held strong leftist and anarchistic beliefs, and his art could be critical of class divisions, hypocrisies, and, as we have here, consumerism.

Le Bon marché is a real Paris department store, still in operation, and we see women descending on the fabric section in droves, while black-jacketed salesmen attend to them...or are they seducing them? Their poses can be seen in a suggestive light, especially the one couple sitting tete-a-tete.

From the Collection Pictet, Geneva.

#Art #Woodcut #LesNabis #FelixVallotton #Caricature

"Work Table," Pierre Bonnard, 1926/37.

I love Bonnard, and I love the Nabis.

The Nabis, if you've missed my gushing about them before, were an art movement that was a transition from Impressionism to more modern, abstract art. The Nabis were also fond of intimate scenes of everyday life and objects, just as they are, and presented with loving care and focus.

I love this work table, scattered with books and papers, and the cat and dog sitting on the couch. Bonnard began this painting in 1926, but then revisited it in 1937 to fine-tune the rosettes on the rug, which is why it has such an odd date.

A work table like this is a sign of an active and busy mind, right?

From the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

#Art #LesNabis #PierreBonnard #Intimism #CatsOfMastodon #DogsOfMastodon

"Pot of Flowers," Édouard Vuillard, c. 1900-01.

Vuillard and his Nabi cohorts are great favorites of mine. I take great delight in Vuillard's work; his love of pattern and skill in depicting it appeal to me greatly. I remember just standing in awe in front of one of his paintings at the Met, to the point that the security guards were starting to eye me suspiciously...

The Nabis loved intimate scenes, and this fits. What's a standout is that this isn't a formally arranged still life...it's just a scene from his studio, painted as is, almost like a casual photograph.

First #FlowerFriday of 2025!

From the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh.

#Art #FrenchArt #LesNabis #EdouardVuillard #FlowerFriday

"A Covered Walkway in the Grounds of the Rodin Museum," Félix Vallotton, 1923.

Vallotton (1865-1923) was a member the Nabis, my favorite art movement, but he's also hard to classify as his work often departs from their style. His work is noted for a certain unemotional realism, but at the same time I can sense an affection for some of the things he paints, like the interior of the Paris apartment he shared with his wife, or this cool green walkway.

Unlike many artists of his time, who started off as being very realistic and representational, and became more abstract as time went on, he did the reverse, starting off fairly expressionistic and abstract and becoming more realist with time.

Still, that cool green walkway on a hot day like this...

From a private collection.

#Art #FrenchArt #FelixVallotton #LesNabis

"A Plate of Strawberries," Pierre Bonnard, 1922.

Bonnard (1867-1947) was a Nabi, so by default he's one of my favorite artists. And here he gives us a great example of Nabi art at its best, an intimate everyday scene depicted with great care to the point it seems of cosmic importance. Here, it's just a simple plate of strawberries on a white tabletop.

Spring is getting ready to knock down the door and force its way in here...and strawberry season won't be far behind...

From a private collection.

#Art #PIerreBonnard #LesNabis #Spring #Strawberries

"The Poker Game," Felix Vallotton, 1902.

I love the Nabis, as you may have already guessed if you've been following me for any length of time. I find their love of intimacy appealing. This scene, by Felix Vallotton, who I've featured before, is an excellent example of Nabi work. We have a warm, intimate room, with people gathered around a table playing cards.

However...there's an indication of other matters. The people in the painting are the artist's wife, her mother, and her uncles. But his wife is so far back she's almost impossible to notice. This was painted at the beginning of the Vallotton marriage falling apart, so perhaps he was indicating the growing distance between himself and his wife.

Still, it's the weekend...who's playing poker? (Don't invite me, I'm terrible at it, and I don't have any money anyway.)

From the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

#Art #FelixVallotton #LesNabis #PostImpressionism #Interior #Poker

"Interior with Woman in Red," Felix Vallotton, 1903.

Vallotton (1865-1925) was part of my favorite art movement, the Nabis. A group of post-Impressionist artists who embraced intimate scenes and being pleasant and decorative as well as being beautiful, I find them criminally overlooked, as well as just gorgeous to behold, while being comforting at the same time.

While this has a lovely vista and glimpse into everyday life, it's also interesting as the woman is Vallotton's wife Gabrielle and the rooms are in fact in the Vallotton household. He lovingly depicts a moment in time...the house isn't idealized and perfect, but slightly mussed, with clothes draped on furniture, and the bed maybe unmade, but it's obvious these rooms mean a lot to him.

Vallotton was also an art critic, novelist, and printmaker; I've features some of his prints before. He was a major influence in woodblock printing today.

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.

#Art #LesNabis #Nabi #FelixVallotton #Interior #PostImpressionism