1899
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Blessing of a Yacht on the Belon River is a 1899 unspecified by Maurice Denis, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
Pink water fills most of the scene. Tiny boats with colored flags float on the Belon River. Women in white headdresses stand under leafy trees at the edge. Denis painted this while on summer holiday in Brittany. The soft light and flat shapes make the river look almost like a dream. He wasn’t trying to copy real life—just how he felt about it. If you like this quiet, colorful style, look up the subject *france, mod euro*.
Maurice Denis made this painting during the summer of 1899 while vacationing with his family in the coastal village of Le Pouldu in Brittany in northwestern France. Two-thirds of this canvas is filled by the lavender-pink surface of the water, dotted with touches of color that suggest reflections of flags and sails on the Belon River. Local women wearing traditional headdresses observe the scene from the riverbank in the foreground, shaded by trees whose foliage frames the top of the composition.
Denis was an extremely prolific artist who experimented with other art forms. His decorative murals can be viewed in many French churches as well as on the ceiling of the Champs Élysées Theatre in Paris.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Maurice Denis (French: ; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer.
See the richer artist page
