Rock of Trestrignel

Denis entered the Académie Julian in Paris. Together with Sérusier, Ranson, Bonnard, and others, he formed the Nabis. His works were characterized by simplified contours and flat colors not only in oil painting but also in fields such as prints, interior decoration, murals, and illustration. He also wrote a number of books on art such as Theories, New Theories, and The History of Religious Art.

In 1908, Denis bought a villa in Perros-Guirec in Brittany. This is a painting of a spot located at the east end of the beach of Trestrignel in that area. The stairs behind the girl in a white dress on the right lead to Denis’s villa. The figures portrayed here are Denis’s children and their friends. The rocks on the beach and the trees in the upper part of the picture are treated in a flat manner and the representation of the sprays from the waves crashing against the rocks and the waves rolling in across the beach appears to be influenced by Japanese ukiyoe. Denis painted a lot of works in which he treated religious subjects and mystic content and such implications may also be imbued with an intimate view of daily life like this.