Between Paintings
Adam Zaklukiewicz ZAKLUK
The Nabis sought a painting that did more than depict the world: it gave it a rhythm of its own. In the late nineteenth century, they came together through experiments with colour, simplified forms and the decorative surface of the picture. The group’s name derives from the Hebrew word for prophet.
“Between Paintings” is a photographic record of looking at an exhibition: a view of the works, but also of their frames, the light and the space in which paintings and visitors meet. The photographs offer a starting point for a story about a new way of seeing, rather than a catalogue of artworks.
From colour to painting
In 1888, Paul Sérusier painted a small landscape in Pont-Aven under the guidance of Paul Gauguin. On returning to Paris, he showed it to his fellow students at the Académie Julian. “The Talisman” became a sign, for the future Nabis, of a departure from the faithful imitation of nature.
Colour could now express a sensation and shape a composition, rather than simply reproduce the appearance of things. Simplification did not diminish the painting: it opened the way to a different intensity of looking.
Close to everyday life
The Nabis were not united by a single subject or an identical style. Their circle included Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard, Maurice Denis and Paul Ranson. Alongside symbolic and religious explorations, interiors, portraits and ordinary moments of domestic life occupied an important place.
Patterns in fabrics, wallpaper and clothing became part of the pictorial structure. Figure and setting could form a single surface: the story unfolded as much through colours and lines as through the scene depicted.
Beyond the canvas
Japanese woodblock prints inspired simplified shapes and unexpected compositions. The Nabis were also interested in printmaking, objects and interior decoration: screens, fans, stained glass and textiles. Art was to become part of everyday surroundings.
In an exhibition, a painting never exists entirely on its own. It sits beside other works, reflects light, and is framed both by its physical frame and by the architecture of the room. Photography can hold these relationships still — what happens between paintings.
Historical context: Musée d’Orsay · Musée des impressionnismes Giverny