1891
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Procession or Pardon at Perros-Guirec is a 1891 unspecified by Maurice Denis, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A line of women in white and black winds down a village street under a pale sky. Some carry a statue; others hold candles or flowers. Denis painted this on a real feast day in Brittany, but he didn’t copy what he saw. Instead, he flattened shapes and used soft colors to make the scene feel like a dream. The women’s faces are almost blank—more like symbols than people. To see how other artists turned real life into patterns, look up the subject “france, mod euro.”
One of the leading artists of a group called the Nabis ("Prophets"), Denis rejected naturalism and materialism out of desire to return spirituality to art. His imaginative compositions emphasize flat, decorative shapes and abstract colors. This painting depicts an annual procession in a small village in Brittany held on the feast day of Saint-Jacques. Young women dressed in white lead the procession; they are followed by married women wearing black and carrying a religious icon.
A pardon is a ceremony that occurs on the feast of the patron saint of a church often followed by a procession.
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 pageYour cart is empty
Explore artworks →
