Atelier de l’artiste

Collection Dominique Denis (1909-1997), son fils

Collection Kellermann, Paris

Galerie Berès, Paris

Collection Pierre Bergé (1930-2017), Paris

Vente Paris, Sotheby’s et Pierre Bergé & Associés, Collection Pierre Bergé, 30 octobre 2018, lot 843

Acquis lors de cette vente par l'actuel propriétaire

Collection Louis Grandchamp des Raux

Cette œuvre sera incluse au Catalogue raisonné des peintures de Maurice Denis actuellement en préparation par Mesdames Claire Denis et Fabienne Stahl sous le numéro n° 890.0019.

Une attestation d'inclusion numérique de Mesdames Claire Denis et Fabienne Stahl sera remise à l'acquéreur.

Towards the end of the 19^th century, Charles Perrault’s fairy tale, La Belle au Bois Dormant (Sleeping Beauty) captured the interest of the Symbolists, who embraced the subject in theatre and literature as well as in the visual arts. In 1892, the publication of Gabriel Trarieux’s play, Songe de la Belle au Bois, revisited the tale as an allegory of the desire to escape the modern world. In the writings of the symbolists, the princess refuses to wake up, preferring to fall back asleep after the prince’s embrace, or even choosing to die rather than face reality, thus shifting the fairy tale towards tragedy.

This work, painted in glue tempera on board, is a maquette with a grid layout (visible on the painted black border) of the backdrop for the third act of Songe de la Belle au Bois. The text for Act III begins with the following description: “the terrace overlooking the sea. The Princess is seated, leaning on her elbows. The end of a summer twilight”.

The composition of this scene is a direct legacy of Gauguin’s teachings at Pont-Aven and an illustration of the principles of the Nabis.