Petit air, sonnet

Maurice Denis

1870–1943

Petit air, sonnet, 1895

Portfolio/Series title: L'Epreuve, no.1, Dec-1984

Where object was made: France

Material/technique: lithograph; wove paper

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 380 x 281 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 380 x 281 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 15/16 x 11 1/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: Gift of Virginia and Ira Jackson

Accession number: 1993.0328

Not on display

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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
"Inspired by Japan," Mar-2003, Cori Sherman
As a founding member of the “Nabis,” Denis explained their premises in 1890, writing, “It is well to remember that a picture, before being a battle horse, a nude woman, or some anecdote, is essentially a flat surface covered with colors assembled in a certain order.” He never denied the importance of subject-matter, but chose to concentrate primarily on decorative arabesques and curvilinear contours, making no attempt at rendering illusionistic space. His many landscapes generally included attenuated trees and human figures (virtually all women in flowing gowns), which combined to form a two-dimensional pattern rather than a depiction of a particular place in a physical world. The elongated, vertical format favored by Denis can be related to hanging scrolls and “pillar” prints, designed for the limited display space available in Japanese homes.