Maurice Denis (French, 1870–1943)
Blessing of a Yacht on the Belon River
1899
Maurice Denis's 'The Blessing of the Boats at Bélon' (1895–1900) depicts a Breton Catholic ceremony in which local priests and white-robed communicants bless the fishing boats moored on the Bélon estuary. Painted in Denis's flattened Nabi idiom of decorative colour and simplified contour, it unites his Catholic faith with the Breton folk culture that also inspired Gauguin. The oil on canvas is in the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Exhibition Venue
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