187 - Woman, Allegory, 1913

Woman, Allegory, 1913 Charcoal and white chalk highlights on paper 80 x 47.5 cm (sheet) Vertical stamp with the monogram “MAUD” in the lower left corner of the composition Annotated on the back of the paper: “Nausicaa 1913” Provenance: Maurice Denis Collection Private collection This drawing is related to the major mythological theme of Nausicaa, the Phaeacian princess in Homer’s Odyssey. “In 1914, Maurice Denis exhibited six panels at the Salon de la Nationale devoted to the story of Nausicaa: *The Chariot*, *The Washerwomen’s Games*, two *Ball Games*, *The Awakening of Ulysses*, and *The Bathers*. Probably created for the private residence of Eugène Druet, the owner of the gallery bearing his name, this series was acquired around 1919 by Marcel Kapferer for his apartment on Rue Charles-Lamoureux and later moved to a new home on Avenue Henri-Martin. The scene depicting *The Awakening of Ulysses* corresponds to a passage from the *Odyssey*. It shows the moment when Nausicaa and her attendants are resting after washing clothes and enjoying various games. Suddenly, a cry rings out: one of the attendants, who had strayed slightly from the group, runs away, and a naked, filthy man emerges from the reeds along the shore. At this commotion, Nausicaa sits up, and already the girls are beginning to cover their nakedness. The only woman still standing, calm and courageous, the noble figure of the young princess stands in stark contrast to the commotion among her attendants. She commands the scene and the events with the natural dignity befitting her rank. The vast landscape of coastal lagoons and mountains unfolding in the background gives rise to a composition of highly decorative curves that rise toward the top of the painting and counteract its sense of depth. The overall effect is quite distinctive: the theme is drawn from Greek literature, and one might describe the work as neoclassical; yet this reference to antiquity is, in this panel and in the others, as if disrupted by the modernity of the bodies. The Symbolist softness of the nudes from the 1890s has given way to depictions of sporty, athletic women, whose firm muscles can be glimpsed beneath their idealized forms. Even the hairstyles—with headbands, hairbands, and ear shells—are very clearly characteristic of the fashion of the time! Denis now expresses himself using the elements of the century and creates works that, by combining the imagery of his time with classical references, already fully embody a certain “Art Deco” spirit. Although less precisely “dated” than the final work, the preparatory drawing nevertheless exhibits a similar “dissonance.” In it, the artist very clearly and deliberately sketches out the “decorative” effects of the landscape by covering the most distant parts of the seascape with broad black strokes. As in the Nabi period, he also emphatically highlights the curves of the beach and those of the ripples, but he gives Nausicaa’s nude figure a prominence that would have been impossible before. The sense of physical vitality emanating from the model is so pronounced that it alters the spirit of the work. Nausicaa’s athletic body thus embodies the very notion of modernity and becomes an emblem of the new era: “Are you a goddess or a mortal?” asks Ulysses, captivated by this extraordinary apparition. “I am myself, and that is enough,” the modern woman seems to reply. » Agnès Delannoy, Maurice Denis: The Artist. The Work Revealed, Paris, Somogy Editions d’art, 2006, p. 194. Related work: Maurice Denis, Nausicaa, 1913, Private collection.