The Nabis: Prophets of a New Art opened on Thursday in the Polish capital's Royal Łazienki Museum.
The exhibition features works by Paul Sérusier, Pierre Bonnard, Paul Ranson, Maurice Denis, Ker-Xavier Roussel, Georges Lacombe, Édouard Vuillard and Félix Vallotton.
Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
The exhibits have been loaned by 11 public institutions in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Hungary, as well as 11 private collections in Poland, France and Switzerland. Most have never previously been displayed in Poland.
"They include outstanding paintings from the Musée d’Orsay, among them one of the Nabis’ iconic works, Spots of Sunlight on the Terrace by the movement’s co-founder Maurice Denis," co-curator Ewa Bobrowska said.
Exhibition co-curator Ewa Bobrowska. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
She said the presence of works from private collections made the exhibition "an absolutely exceptional" opportunity to see them in person.
The Nabis, a group of artists active in France from 1888 to 1899, rejected the conventions of academic painting and conventions of impressionism and favored strong colors, clear outlines and decorative compositions.
Although the movement was short-lived, it influenced later artists associated with fauvism and cubism, and is considered key in the transition to modernist styles of work. Its members were strongly inspired by Paul Gauguin and the Pont-Aven school, an artists' community that developed in Brittany in western France.
The word nabi means "prophet" in both Hebrew and Arabic, giving the Warsaw exhibition its title.
Members of the group placed greater emphasis on emotion and the independent life of the artwork than on faithfully reproducing nature. As Bonnard put it, "The point is not to paint life, but to make a painting come alive."
Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
The exhibition covers religious, spiritual and esoteric themes, as well as portraits, interiors, landscapes and scenes from daily life, while quotations from the artists and anecdotal descriptions placed throughout serve to flesh out their ideas and relationships.
Works by Polish artists influenced by the movement are also included. They include Stanisław Wyspiański, Mela Muter, Witold Wojtkiewicz, Bolesław Biegas, Henryk Hayden and Eugeniusz (Eugéne) Zak.
Particular attention is given to Władysław Ślewiński, one of the few Polish artists directly associated with the Pont-Aven school. His work was strongly influenced by Gauguin and the Nabis.
"The works demonstrate a shared sensibility that knows no borders," Royal Łazienki Museum director Marianna Otmianowska said.
She added that the exhibition offered a new perspective on changes in late 19th-century art and the cultural ties between France and Poland.
The show runs until November 15.
Warsaw's iconic Royal Łazienki Park is a major tourist attraction and a popular cultural venue in the centre of the Polish capital. Image by Henryk Niestrój from Pixabay