Par Philippe Roudeillat
Published on August 27, 23 at 9:16 See my news Follow 78news This property in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines) was acquired in 1914 by Maurice Denis. He will reside there until the end of his life. (© Philippe Roudeillat/78 news)
Musée dedicated to Maurice Denis (1870-1943) and artists symbolists and nabisthe imposing eponymous building was built at the end of the 17th century in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines).
The place was then a royal general hospital created at the instigation of the Marquise de Montespanfavorites of Louis XIV to accommodate the then numerous needy people in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The building lost its vocation in 1803.
Sold in 1816, it was used as a warehouse, then as a workshop for artists. After the war of 1870it becomes the property of the Jesuit Fatherswhich make it a retirement home until the application of the law on the separation of church and state.
Acquired in 1914 by Maurice Denis, transformed into a museum in 1976
The property seized after 1905 was acquired in 1914 by Maurice Denis. The one who was nicknamed the “Nabi with beautiful icons” will reside until the end of his life in this place where he will create a important part of his work and where he will welcome his students and many artists and friends.
His family donated it to the Department, along with many of the artist’s works and archives. The site was transformed into a Maurice-Denis museum in 1976 by the General Council of Yvelines – today called Yvelines Departmental Council – and will be open to the public from 1980.
It is in this house of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines) that Maurice Denis will create an important part of his work and where he will welcome his students and many artists and friends. (© Philippe Roudeillat/78 news)
Major art collections
“Initially, the fund bequeathed by the Denis family to the Department included more than 1,500 works. But for three decades, the collections have been greatly enrichedexplains theSaint-Germain inter-municipal tourist office loops of the Seine. They form a coherent and important whole over a key period in the history of art, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. »
“These collections are essential for anyone wishing to understand the origins of modern art. Due to its history, its architecture and the collections it houses, the Maurice-Denis departmental museum is part of the rich heritage of our department. »
Saint-Germain inter-municipal tourist office loops of the Seine
Paintings, graphic works, sculptures…
As indicated on the museum’s website, the collections are of a varied nature: paintings, graphic works, sculptures, pieces of furniture and works of art (fans, screens, stained glass, etc.).
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“All these elements make it possible to grasp the desire of the Nabis artists to integrate art into daily life, deciphers the Office de tourisme intercommunal Saint-Germain Boucles de Seine. Diverse in its aspects, the collection of the Maurice-Denis Museum is fundamentally homogeneous in his mind and reflects the belief of these artists in the deep unity of the different forms of art. »
The collections of the Maurice-Denis museum, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines), are varied in nature. (© Philippe Roudeillat/78 news)
A rose garden and a green theater
On the garden side, the visitor can discover several landscapes during his walk. “Around the building that houses the museum, a first space is decorated with sculpture by Antoine Bourdelle and overlooks the garden from the terrace”, presents the Saint-Germain Boucles de Seine inter-municipal tourist office.
“Halfway up the slope, the landscape is made up of tall trees as well as a rose garden and a green theatre. Below, the garden is embellished with a fountain and a pond and includes an orchard and a vegetable patch. »
Saint-Germain inter-municipal tourist office loops of the Seine
Announced in 2015 to be razed
If the Denis museum is incontestably a rich heritage of Yvelines, many questions remained unanswered concerning its future, a few years ago. On June 27, 2015, an article published in Le Figaro thus implied that the Department would have considered, at one time, to shave it to ” build a new building ».
The museum was able to count on many defenders within the departmental authority, but also outside with in particular the Society of Friends of Maurice Deniswhich was created in 2014 and has several hundred members.
On the garden side, the visitor can discover several landscapes during his walk in the Maurice-Denis museum, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines). (©Maurice Denis Museum)
Important work carried out in 2018
The members, who complained of a divestment from the Department, had seen a clearer with the financing, still in 2015, of a study “of project of valorization and exploitation” of the museum.
Made by the Meeting of national museums (RMN), it estimated the amount of the operation to be carried out at €20 million. The latter, which the Department did not see itself applying in extenso, would nevertheless have served as the basis for the major works launched in 2018.
Maurice-Denis Departmental Museum: 2 bis, rue Maurice-Denis, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines). Such. : 01 39 07 87 87.
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