Several works by Maurice Denis for Nice

29/1/25 - Acquisitions - Nice, Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules Chéret - It was while preparing the exhibition devoted to Maurice Denis’s stays in the Midi [1] that the Musée Jules Chéret had the opportunity to acquire several works by the master. The project was inspired by an anniversary: in 1925, Maurice Denis was the guest of honour at the Salon of the Société des Beaux-Arts de Nice. Some forty-three works by his hand were then shown, selected by the artist himself.

1. Maurice Denis (1870-1943)
The Prayer, c. 1923
Pastel
Nice, Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules-Chéret
Photo: François Fernandez

See the image in its page

Among them, a large pastel entitled The Prayer is a sketch for one of the frescoes of the Beatitudes in the church of Saint-Louis de Vincennes (see the article). At the close of the Salon, the pastel was acquired by the Société des Beaux-Arts for the Nice museum (ill. 1). It is now shown, in the current exhibition, next to a study of a woman in a relatively similar posture (ill. 2), which has very recently joined the collections, donated by the artist’s descendants. The model is always Éléonore Busnel, and the drawing in both instances is connected with a monumental decorative scheme conceived by the artist. This second sketch, executed on tracing paper, forms part of the many studies by Maurice Denis for the figure of Joan of Arc. The saint appears in several of his works [2], and notably in the chapel of the Prieuré (see the article), even though the master did not retain the posture traced on this sheet. The Apparition of Saint Michael to Joan, by contrast, presents the young girl in a fairly comparable attitude, her face raised; it is an illustration by Denis for Georges Goyau’s Religious History, composed in 1921.

2. Maurice Denis (1870-1943)
Bust of a Woman, Sketch, c. 1922
Graphite on tracing paper
Nice, Musée des Beaux-Arts Jules-Chéret
Photo: City of Nice

See the image in its page

The museum also…