Three exceptional paintings are dominated by geometrical forms. In one, a huge golden cylinder hangs in the night sky. Was this an innovative abstract painting?
Nabis
One of the paintings he made in 1888 is quite unlike any other that he made in his career: The Talisman, which became an icon for the Nabis. Is it abstract?
As he moved away from Nabi style, he made a few narrative works, and painted idyllic realist landscapes.
He introduced the Nabis’ argot, gave them all names, and remained true to their style for longer than most.
Many of his last paintings were landscapes, made from earlier sketchbooks and studies, seen through the eye of the print-maker.
From 1907, he painted a series of mythological works, and increasingly turned to landscapes, some of which are most unusual, almost surreal.
His enigmatic paintings of interiors appear cinematic in their composition and lighting, akin to those of cinematographers of the future, not painters of the past.
Originally a portraitist in academic style, he was a Nabi in the early 1890s before developing his own simple but strange figurative paintings.
With his chroma increasing all the time, he took to a series of classical myths, set on French beaches. Later his paintings became more devotional.
One of the co-founders of Les Nabis, many of his paintings are religious in theme. He was also a fan of CĂ©zanne, and painted a major homage to him.
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