Nabis, Pont-Aven and decorative post-impressionism
Top 30 Nabis painters: Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis and Sérusier
A guide to understanding the Nabis, from Bonnard and Vuillard to Denis, Sérusier, Ranson, Vallotton and their decorative legacies.
The Nabis are not just a group of young post-impressionist painters. They invent another idea of the painting: flat surface, organized color, decor, spirituality, intimacy, theater, poster and daily life. Between Pont-Aven, Paris and bourgeois interiors, this Top 30 tells of a discreet but decisive modernity.
Before the grid
Why the Nabis are changing modern painting
The word “Nabi” means prophet. The name is a bit theatrical, but it clearly expresses the group's ambition: to announce a painting freed from pure imitation. Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, Sérusier, Ranson, Roussel, Vallotton or Ibels do not only paint what they see. They organize surfaces, rhythms, patterns and colors.
Their art is a bridge: between Gauguin and Matisse, between symbolism and intimacy, between easel painting and wall decoration, between painting and poster. The Nabis show that modernity can be silent, domestic, decorative and yet radical.
Top 1 to 10
The nabi core: Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis and Sérusier
The first ten rows bring together the central figures of the group: intimacy, flat areas, symbolism, Brittany, theater, decor and spirituality.
#1
Pierre Bonnard
Bonnard transforms the Nabi heritage into a painting of intimate life: vibrant colors, bold framing, domestic light and sensitive memory.
See the Pierre Bonnard collection
#2
Édouard Vuillard
Vuillard is the great painter of Nabis interiors: wallpapers, melted silhouettes, cozy atmosphere and everyday theater.
See the Édouard Vuillard collection
#3
Maurice Denis
Denis gives the group his famous formula: before being a subject, the painting is an organized surface of colors.
See the Maurice Denis collection
#4
Paul Sérusier
Sérusier brings back from Pont-Aven the Talisman, a small painting-manifesto which opens the way to the Nabi synthesis.
See the Paul Sérusier collection
#5
Paul Ranson
Ranson pushes nabi towards esotericism, decor, arabesque and almost magical plant imagery.
See the Paul Ranson collection
#6
Ker-Xavier Roussel
Roussel transforms Nabi vocabulary into mythological landscapes, wall decorations and pastoral visions bathed in color.
See the Ker-Xavier Roussel collection
#7
Felix Vallotton
Vallotton brings a sharp look to the group: flat areas, sharp silhouettes, incisive engraving and psychological tension.
See the Félix Vallotton collection
#8
Henri Gabriel Ibels
Ibels connects the Nabis to the poster, the theater and the illustrated press, with synthetic and popular forms.
See the Henri-Gabriel Ibels collection
#9
Georges Lacombe
Lacombe gives nabi archaic strength: Breton landscapes, carved wood, simplified shapes and dense symbolism.
See the Georges Lacombe collection
#10
Jan Verkade
Verkade united Pont-Aven, nabi and spiritual quest before becoming a monk, maintaining a taste for flat areas and synthesis.
See the Jan Verkade collectionRanks 11 to 20
Pont-Aven, partitionism, poster and symbolist sources
This section shows the sources and relatives: Gauguin, Bernard, Redon, Lautrec, Anquetin and the artists who connect nabi to posters and compartmentalism.
#11
Aristide Maillol
Before monumental sculpture, Maillol participated in the Nabi universe through painting, tapestry and simplified figures.
See the Aristide Maillol collection
#12
József Rippl-Ronai
Rippl-Rónai spreads the Nabi spirit in Hungary: refined solid colors, interior scenes, decorative portraits and Japanese taste.
See the József Rippl-Rónai collection
#13
Mogens Ballin
Ballin is one of the Nordic companions of nabi, between symbolist painting, craftsmanship and spiritual research.
See the Mogens Ballin collection
#14
Charles Filiger
Filiger, near Pont-Aven and the Nabis, paints hieratic, colorful, almost iconic figures.
See the Charles Filiger collection
#15
Emile Bernard
Bernard is not nabi in the strict sense, but his compartmentalism and his flat areas directly nourish their language.
See the Émile Bernard collection
#16
Paul Gauguin
Gauguin is the magnetic source: synthesis, pure color, anti-naturalist and primitive spirituality fascinate the Nabis.
See the Paul Gauguin collection
#17
Odilon Redon
Redon opens up to the Nabis an inner imagination: dream, mystery, mental colors and poetic symbolism.
See the Odilon Redon collection
#18
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Lautrec shares with the Nabis a taste for posters, Japanese framing and graphic modernity.
See the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec collection
#19
Louis Anquetin
Anquetin participated in the invention of partitionism, essential for understanding the colorful flatness and line of the Nabis.
See the Louis Anquetin collection
#20
Cuno Amiet
Amiet extends Pont-Aven and synthetic research in a bright, decorative and modern Swiss color.
Read the biography of Cuno Amiet on WikipediaRanks 21 to 30
Decorative and post-nabis legacies
The last third follows the extensions: decorative color, intimacy, late symbolism, soft Fauvism and modernities around 1900.
#21
Henri Matisse
Matisse is not nabi, but his decorative art, his flat areas and his relationship to color extend certain intuitions of the group.
See the Henri Matisse collection
#22
Georges Rouault
Rouault inherited symbolism and colorful compartmentalization, but his death after 1956 imposed an external biographical link.
Read the biography of Georges Rouault on Wikipedia
#23
Suzanne Valadon
Valadon dialogues with post-impressionist Paris: firm contours, interiors, nudes, independent modernity and strength of drawing.
See the Suzanne Valadon collection
#24
Jacqueline Marval
Marval extends a decorative and figurative modernity, close to the research of color and flatness at the turn of the century.
See the Jacqueline Marval collection
#25
Henri Manguin
Manguin belongs more to Fauvism, but its luminous and decorative color prolongs the Nabi liberation.
See the Henri Manguin collection
#26
Albert Andrew
André works with clear, intimate and decorative painting, heir to the post-impressionist domestic scene.
See the Albert André collection
#27
Henri Le Sidaner
The Sidaner shares a taste for silent atmospheres, interiors and gardens as mental spaces.
See the Henri Le Sidaner collection
#28
Georges d'Espagnat
D'Espagnat connects intimacy, decorative color and soft modernity, in the neighborhood of post-nabi.
See the Georges d'Espagnat collection
#29
Pierre Laprade
Laprade cultivates a decorative, clear and poetic painting, sensitive to the Nabi heritage and the intimacy of the place.
See the Pierre Laprade collection
#30
Henry Martin
Henri Martin extends the taste for wall decor, organized color and luminous symbolism.
See the Henri Martin collectionMethod
How the 30 artists were selected
The selection favors the members of the Nabi group, their direct sources in Pont-Aven, artists close to partitionism, then the decorative and intimate extensions which allow us to understand the influence of the movement.
Cuno Amiet and Georges Rouault are kept as important heirs, but as they died after 1956, their maps refer to Wikipedia.
Choose a reproduction
Where to start?
For nabi intimacy, start with Bonnard and Vuillard. For theory and spirituality, Denis and Sérusier are essential. For the decorative side, Ranson, Roussel, Lacombe and Maillol open very different directions.
If you like links with posters and graphic art, look at Vallotton, Ibels, Lautrec and Anquetin. To understand the sources, Gauguin, Bernard and Redon are essential.
Continue
Guides, rankings and references
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Museum landmarks
Quick markers
A gentle revolution of the surface
The Nabis do not always seek frontal shock. Their revolution involves wallpaper, the table, the window, the garden, the poster, the decorative panel. They move modernity towards the intimate and towards the surface.
From Bonnard to Vuillard, from Denis to Sérusier, their heritage announces a large part of 20th century art: color as structure, decor as thought, painting as an organized world.
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