243 - Life Becomes Precious and Discreet (from the “Love” series, 1898/99) and Saint Genevieve Blessing Paris (1931)

Life Becomes Precious and Discreet (from the “Love” series, 1898/99) and Saint Genevieve Blessing Paris (1931) Set of two prints comprising 28.5 x 40.5 cm (image size) and 41 x 53.2 cm (sheet size) (for *Life Becomes Precious and Discreet*) 53.5 x 36.5 cm (image size) and 65.5 x 51 cm (sheet size) (for *Saint Geneviève Blessing Paris*) Round stamp with the monogram “MAUD” on the plate in the lower left corner and annotated in pencil in the lower left corner: “Artist’s proof” (for *Life Becomes Precious, Discreet*) Signed and dated in the lower right corner of the print: Maurice Denis 31 (for *Saint Geneviève Blessing Paris*) Provenance: Maurice Denis Collection Private collection “In *Life Becomes Precious, Discreet*, Denis draws inspiration from the panel dedicated to marriage in the Bing series. However, he accentuates its underlying geometric structure and employs a rather surprising geometric layout for the arrangement of the elements in the enclosed garden in which he sets the scene. The precision of the line and the highly technical nature of the spatial construction do not, however, prevent the composition from conveying an impression of purity and contemplation. Symbolism and geometry can thus be reconciled! ” Agnès Delannoy, Maurice Denis: The Draftsman. The Work Revealed, Paris, Somogy Editions d’art, 2006, page 132. Related Works Maurice Denis, Life Becomes Precious and Discreet, lithograph for *Amour*. Maurice Denis, *Amour: Life Becomes Precious and Discreet* (sketch for a lithograph), Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Maurice Denis Departmental Museum. This lithograph is related to the panel titled *Le Mariage* (*The Wedding*), created between 1897 and 1899 and later reworked in 1922, now housed at the Maurice Denis Departmental Museum in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. In 1895, at the request of the Parisian art dealer Siegfried Bing for his L’Art Nouveau gallery, Maurice Denis created a decorative frieze for a bedroom, drawing inspiration from Schumann’s song cycle *Love and the Life of a Woman*: Everything, at this hour, vibrates and shines; Young companions, scatter flowers: But, too happy, I leave Your circle, shedding tears. After several panels from the original series were sold, the artist created a new version in the late 1890s for the bedroom of his wife, Marthe—a frieze that would undergo several additions and modifications, culminating in the final repainting in 1922. The museum now holds seven panels illustrating the stages of a woman’s life: The Engagement, The Wedding, Embroidery by the Sea, The Birth, Childhood, Evening Prayer, and The Doves. Rendered in a striking twilight monochrome, the design poetically blends familiar motifs with powerful symbolism. In our lithograph, the “dominant color scheme is built on a harmony of dark green and a striking vivid blue. Several of the techniques already used are evident here. The vague silhouettes of the figures are left in reserve on the sheet of paper. […] The noble figure of the young bride, outlined in reserve against the background […], possesses a distinctive expression—at once ancient and modern—that lends the scene a sort of serene gravity. ” Agnès Delannoy, *Maurice Denis: The Draftsman. The Work Revealed*, Paris, Somogy Editions d’art, 2006, p. 88. Related Works: Maurice Denis, *Le Mariage*, 1897–1899, reworked in 1922, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Maurice Denis Departmental Museum. Maurice Denis, *Love and the Life of a Woman: The Wedding* (design for the bedroom commissioned by Siegfried Bing), 1895, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Maurice Denis Departmental Museum. Photograph taken around 1899 for Julius Meier-Graefe, *La Couronne*.