|
|
Beyond the Easel: Decorative Painting by Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, and Roussel, 1890–1930
|
|
  |
|
Ladder in Foliage, or Poetic Arabesques for the Decoration of a Ceiling, 1892
Maurice Denis (French, 1870–1943)
Oil on canvas, mounted on cardboard; 92 1/2 x 67 3/4 in. (235 x 172 cm)
Musée départemental Maurice Denis, "Le Prieuré," Saint-Germain-en-Laye
© 2001 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris
|
|
Description
The academic painter and composer Henri Lerolle asked the twenty-one-year-old Denis to create a ceiling painting for his home, something the young artist had never before attempted. Denis's fiancée, the artist Marthe Meurier, served as the model for all four figures on the ladder. It was she who painted the foliate border around the edge of the painting, and, accordingly, added her initials (lower left corner). Denis's intitials can be found amid the foliage in the middle of the canvas, at right.
Once finished, the painting was glued onto the ceiling of a narrow room hung with William Morris wallpaper. Ladder in Foliage launched Denis's career as a painter-decorator, and he received commissions from Lerolle's family and friends throughout the decade.
|
Back to main page for this exhibition
Back to images from this exhibition