Motherhood (Vierge au baiser)
Maurice Denis (1870 - 1943), 1899-1900
oil on canvas, 80 cm x 64.5 cm
Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij)
Denis’ wife Marthe and their children were a major source of inspiration for him. They figure in many of his paintings, drawings, and prints. In Motherhood, he depicted Marthe and their newborn daughter. The mother’s lips lovingly brush the sleeping baby’s cheek.
For this intimate portrayal, Denis drew inspiration from paintings of the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child by Italian Renaissance painters such as Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510). Denis gave his work a modern feel by painting the scene in flat, shadowless areas of colour and with decorative patterns. He introduced a subtle spot of light on the child’s head.
- Object number
- s0542S2018
- Dimensions
- 80 cm x 64.5 cm, 85 cm x 102.5 cm
- artist
- Maurice Denis
- Credits
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (purchased with support from the VriendenLoterij)
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Ongekend. Verhalen rond 10 jaar aanwinsten, 5 February-12 September 2021
Rabinow, R.A., Druick, Douglas W., Cézanne to Picasso : Ambroise Vollard, patron of the Avant-Garde, New Haven, 2006, p. 85-86, 351
Bouillon, Jean-Paul, Maurice Denis 1870-1943, Ghent, 1994, p. 264
Wattenmaker, R.J., Withrow, W.J., Puvis de Chavannes and the modern tradition, Toronto, 1975, xv, p. 131, 134
Dayez, A., Hautecoeur, Louis, Maurice Denis, Paris, 1970, p. 45
Fuchs, Heinz, Die Nabis und ihre Freunde = Les Nabis et leurs amis, [s.l.], [1963], [unpaged]
