The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 4, 2023

Blessing of a Yacht on the Belon River

1899

Maurice Denis

(French, 1870–1943)

France

Oil on canvas

Unframed: 75 x 80 cm (29 1/2 x 31 1/2 in.)

Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.110

Location

223 20th Century Avant-Garde

Fun Fact

Denis was an extremely prolific artist who experimented with other art forms. His decorative murals can be viewed in many French churches as well as on the ceiling of the Champs Élysées Theatre in Paris.

Description

Maurice Denis was a member of the Nabis, a small circle of artists formed in Paris in 1888 and associated with the Symbolist movement. Taking their name from the Hebrew and Arabic terms for “prophet,” the Nabis abandoned the Impressionist goal of depicting the fleeting effects of nature, and instead sought to convey a deeper level of meaning through harmonious arrangements of decorative line and color. Denis’s painting depicts a crowd of figures standing on a riverbank, their forms simplified and rendered with pure colors, as they watch the blessing of a yacht on the Belon River near Pont-Aven in Brittany. The subject reflects the artist’s fascination with the humble, spiritual life of this rural community, culturally disparate from the tumultuous strife of modern urban life.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed lower right: MAVD

Provenance
1899-1903
Collection of the Artist
1903
(La Livre Esthetique, Brussels, Belgium, acquired by Thomas Braun directly from the artist) 1
1903–1962
Thomas Braun [1876-1961] Brussels, Belgium, consigned to Galerie Andrew Maurice
1962
(Galerie Andrew Maurice, Paris, France, May 14, 1962, sold to the family of Samuel Josefowicz) 2
1962–2015
Family of Samuel Josefowicz, sold to Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley
2015–2020
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
2020–
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Provenance Footnotes

1 According to the bill of sale in the curatorial file, Thomas Braun purchased this painting from Maurice Denis at La Libre Esthetique, an artistic society in Brussels.
2 Buyer information is according to a handwritten annotation on the bill of sale.
Citations
Œuvres de Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Ibels, Aristide Maillol, Hermann Paul, Ranson, Roussel, Serusier, Vallotton, Vuillard: catalogue. Paris: MM. Bernheim Jeune et fils, 1900. Mentioned: Denis no. 6
Exposition Maurice Denis 1888-1924 [Parijs, 1924]. Paris: Union centrale des Arts décoratifs, 1924. Mentioned: P. 8, no. 112
Pont-Aven: Gauguin und sein Kreis in der Bretagne. Zürich: Kunsthaus Zürich, 1966. Mentioned: P. 172, no. 168
Distel, Anne. Maurice Denis. Orangerie des Tuileries, 3 juin-31 août 1970. Paris, France: Ministère d'État, Affaires culturelles, 1970. Mentioned: P. 39, no. 70
Maurice Denis. Gemälde, Handzeichnungen, Druckgraphik. Meisterwerke des Nachimpressionismus aus der Sammlung Maurice Denis. (Ausstellung,) Kunsthaus Zürich, 29. Jan-12. März 1972. (Katalog.). 1972. Mentioned: P. 42, no. 48
House, John, and Mary Anne Stevens. Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European Painting. London, United Kingdom : Royal Academy of Arts, 1979. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 67, no. 70
National Gallery of Art (US.). Post-Impressionism: Cross-Currents in European and American Painting, 1880-1906. Washington DC: National Gallery of Art, 1980. Reproduced: P. 129; Mentioned: P. 128, no. 163
Pickvance, Ronald. Gauguin and the Pont-Aven School. [Sydney, Australia]: [Art Gallery of New South Wales], 1994. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 112-113, no. 68
Pickvance, Ronald, and Richard R. Brettell. Gauguin and the School of Pont-Aven. London: Apollo, 1994. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 96, no. 68
Pickvance, Ronald. Gauguin and the School of Pont-Aven. Sigmaringen, Germany: Thorbecke, 1997. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 180-181, no. 68
Kerlo, Léo, René Le Bihan, and Jacqueline Duroc. [Peintres des côtes de Bretagne]. Douarnenez, France: Chasse-marée/Armen, 1998. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 154-155
Kenavo Monsieur Gauguin: Musée de Pont-Aven, 28 juin-29 septembre 2003. Pont-Aven, France: Musée de Pont-Aven, 2003. Mentioned and reproduced:. p. 64-65, no. 16
Kerlo, Léo, and Jacqueline Duroc. Peintres des côtes de Bretagne. 4, 4. Douardenez: Chasse-marée, 2006. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 154-155
Delouche, Denise. Maurice Denis et la Bretagne. Quimper: Palantines, 2009. Mentioned: P. 58-59; Reproduced: P.146, no. PA-41
“A Historic Gift. Longtime CMA supporters Joseph and Nancy Keithley give 114 works, the largest gift in more than 60 years.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 60, no. 3 (Summer 2020): Cover, 6-9. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 7.
Exhibition history

Galerie Bernheim, Paris France (April 1900).

La Libre Esthetique, Brussels, Belgium (1903).

Union Centrale des Arts decoratifs. Pavillon Marsan, Paris, France (1924).

Retrospective Maurice Denis. Tate Gallery, London, United Kingdom (January-February, 1966).

Pont-Aven: Gauguin und sein Kreis in der Bretagne. Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland (March-April 1966).

Maurice Denis. Orangerie des Tuileries, Paris, France (June 3-August 31, 1970).

Maurice Denis. Kunsthalle, Bremen, Germany (October 17-December 5, 1971); Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland (January 29-March 12, 1972); Stantens Museum fur Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark (April 8-May 7, 1972).

Post-Impressionism: Crosscurrents in European Painting. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom (November 1979-March 1980); National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (May-September 1980).

Gauguin and the School of Pont-Aven. Museum Würth, Künzelsau, Germany (March 2-June 1,1997).

Kenavo Monsieur Gauguin - Centenaire de la mort de Gauguin. Musèe de Pont-Aven, Pont-Aven, France (June 28-September 29, 2003).

Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.110