Maurice Denis was a French painter, decorative artist, and writer, best known as a leading figure of the Nabi movement and Symbolism.

 Denis was nicknamed the “Nabi of the beautiful icons” because of his admiration for early Italian Renaissance art and his focus on spiritual, symbolic imagery.

Denis famously declared: “Remember that a picture, before being a battle horse, a female nude or some sort of anecdote, is essentially a flat surface covered with colours assembled in a certain order.”

This statement became a cornerstone of modern art theory, influencing later. 

After World War I, he decorated churches, produced murals, and continued to write influential essays on aesthetics.

His works often combined religious themes, decorative design, and symbolist poetry, bridging Impressionism with modernist abstraction.

l'Amour by Maurice Denis