Paul Sérusier (9 November 1864 – 7 October 1927) was a French painter who was a pioneer of
abstract art and an inspiration for the
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
Nabis
Nabis ( grc-gre, Νάβις) was the last king of independent Sparta. He was probably a member of the Heracleidae, and he ruled from 207 BC to 192 BC, during the years of the First and Second Macedonian Wars and the eponymous " War against Nab ...
movement,
Synthetism
Synthetism is a term used by post-Impressionist artists like Paul Gauguin, Émile Bernard and Louis Anquetin to distinguish their work from Impressionism. Earlier, ''Synthetism'' has been connected to the term Cloisonnism, and later to Symbolism. ...
and
Cloisonnism
Cloisonnism is a style of post-Impressionist painting with bold and flat forms separated by dark contours. The term was coined by critic Édouard Dujardin on the occasion of the Salon des Indépendants, in March 1888. Artists Émile Bernard, Lou ...
.
Education
Sérusier was born in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. He studied at the
Académie Julian and was a monitor there in the mid-1880s. In the summer of 1888 he travelled to
Pont-Aven
Pont-Aven (, Breton: 'River Bridge') is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 2,821.
Demographics
Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called ''Pontavenistes'' in French ...
and joined the small group of artists centered there around
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
. While at the Pont-Aven
artist's colony
An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of Artist, artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior exi ...
he painted a picture that became known as ''
The Talisman'', under the close supervision of Gauguin. The picture was an extreme exercise in
Cloisonnism
Cloisonnism is a style of post-Impressionist painting with bold and flat forms separated by dark contours. The term was coined by critic Édouard Dujardin on the occasion of the Salon des Indépendants, in March 1888. Artists Émile Bernard, Lou ...
that approximated to pure abstraction. He was a
Post-Impressionist painter, a part of the group of painters called
Les Nabis. Sérusier, along with
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
, named the group.
Pierre Bonnard,
Édouard Vuillard
Jean-Édouard Vuillard (; 11 November 186821 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist and printmaker. From 1891 through 1900, he was a prominent member of the Nabis, making paintings which assembled areas of pure color, and interior sc ...
and
Maurice Denis
Maurice Denis (; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer. An important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art, he is associated with ''Les Nabis'', symbolism, a ...
became the best known of the group, but at the time they were somewhat peripheral to the core group.
In 1892 Sérusier met and befriended
Charles Hodge Mackie while the
Scottish artist and his wife were honeymooning in France. This friendship led to him contributing the illustration ''Pastorale Bretonne'' to ''The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal: The Book of Spring'' published by
Patrick Geddes
Sir Patrick Geddes (2 October 1854 – 17 April 1932) was a British biologist, sociologist, Comtean positivist, geographer, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He is known for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning ...
and Colleagues in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
in 1895.
[''The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal: The Book of Spring'', Patrick Geddes and Colleagues (1895)]
He later taught at the
Académie Ranson and published his book ''ABC de la peinture'' in 1921. He died at
Morlaix
Morlaix (; br, Montroulez) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.
Leisure and tourism
The old quarter of the town has winding streets of cobbled stones and overha ...
in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
.
Writings
* ''ABC de la peinture'', La Douce France & Henri Floury, Paris 1921
: - Second edition, accompanied by a study on Sérusier's life and work, by
Maurice Denis
Maurice Denis (; 25 November 1870 – 13 November 1943) was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer. An important figure in the transitional period between impressionism and modern art, he is associated with ''Les Nabis'', symbolism, a ...
, Librairie Floury, Paris 1942
: - Third edition, accompanied by an unpublished correspondence, collected by Madame P. Sérusier and annotated by Mademoiselle H. Boutaric, Librairie Floury, Paris 1950
Gallery of Paintings
File:Paul Sérusier 001.jpg, Sérusier, 1888, ''Landscape and trees in Pont-Aven'', or '' The Talisman'', oil-painting
File:La barrière fleurie, Le Pouldu 1889 Paul Serusier.jpg, Sérusier, 1889, ''The flowered barrier, Le Pouldu in Pont-Aven'', oil on cardboard
File:Porträt Paul Ranson.jpg, Sérusier, 1890, ''Portrait of Paul Ranson
Paul-Élie Ranson (29 March 1861 – 20 February 1909) was a French painter and writer associated with Les Nabis.
Biography
He was born in Limoges. His mother died in childbirth, so he was raised and educated by his grandparents and his ...
'', oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay
File:Paul Sérusier 002.jpg, Sérusier, 1890, ''Melancholy'', oil on canvas
File:Le pardon de Notre-Dame-des-Portes à Châteauneuf-du-Faou vers 1894 Paul Sérusier.JPG, Sérusier, c. 1894, ''Le pardon de Notre-Dame-des-Portes à Châteauneuf-du-Faou', oil painting, Musée d'Orsay
File:Sérusier Les mangeurs de serpents.jpg, Sérusier, 1894, ''The snake eaters (Les mangeurs de serpents)'', tempera on canvas, National Museum, Warsaw
The National Museum in Warsaw ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie), popularly abbreviated as MNW, is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art ( Eg ...
File:Serusier - boys on a river bank.jpg, Sérusier, 1906, ''Boys on a Riverbank'', oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum.
The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...
File:Paul Sérusier Autoportrait à la barbe rutilante.jpg, Sérusier, 1907–08, ''Self-portrait with a shiny beard (Autoportrait à la barbe rutilante)'', oil on canvas
File:Paysage 1912 Paul Serusier.jpg, Sérusier, 1912, ''Landscape'', oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay
File:Paul Sérusier La veuve de guerre.jpg, Sérusier, 1919, ''The War Widow (La veuve de Guerre)'', oil on canvas
References and sources
;References
;Sources
* ''Gauguin and the Nabis: Prophets of Modernism'' by Arthur Ellridge. Terrail, 1995.
* ''The Nabis: Bonnard, Vuillard and Their Circle'' by Claire Freches-Thory (Author), Antoine Terrasse (Author). Flammarion, 2003.
* ''The Nabis and the Parisian Avant-Garde'' by Patricia Eckert Boyer (Editor), Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Elizabeth Prelinger. Rutgers University Press, 1988.
* ''The Nabis and Their Period'' by Charles Chassé. Lund Humphries, 1969.
* ''The Nabis, Their History and Their Art, 1888–1896'' by George Mauner. Garland Publishing, 1978.
* Frèches-Thory, Claire, & Perucchi-Petry, Ursula, ed.: ''Die Nabis: Propheten der Moderne'', Kunsthaus Zürich & Grand Palais, Paris & Prestel, Munich 1993 (German), (French)
External links
Sérusier at Olga's Gallery''Pierre Bonnard, the Graphic Art'' an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Sérusier (see index)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serusier, Paul
19th-century French painters
French male painters
20th-century French painters
20th-century French male artists
Post-impressionist painters
Académie Julian alumni
1864 births
1927 deaths
Lycée Condorcet alumni
Les Nabis
Pont-Aven painters
19th-century French male artists