Interior Worlds

Elsa Smithgall, Sarah Bertalan, Isabelle Cahn, Clément Dessy, Katherine Kuenzli

"Inspired by Paul Gauguin in the last decade of the nineteenth century, the Nabi painters saw themselves as prophets of a new art. While stylistically diverse, the group's members, including Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard as well as Maurice Denis, Félix, Vallotton, Aristide Maillol, Ker-Xavier Roussel, and Paul Ranson, shared a belief in art's intimate connection to everyday life. They worked across disciplines and media, experimenting with painting, ceramics, stained glass, textiles, theatrical sets and costumes, and more to break down the artificial barriers between the fine and decorative arts. The Nabis were also prolific printmakers, and their lithographs, poster designs, book illustrations, theater programs, and contributions to the literary journals, or 'little reviews,' that proliferated in Paris at the fin de siècle were a major part of their practice. This vibrantly...