Editing Nabis (art) (section)

==Beginning==
[[File:'Motif Romanesque' by Maurice Denis, 1890, LACMA.JPG|thumb|right|200px|''Motif Romanesque'' by [[Maurice Denis]] (1890), one of the earliest Nabi paintings]]

The Nabis were a group of young artists of the [[Académie Julian]] in Paris, who wanted to transform the foundations of art. One of the artists, [[Paul Sérusier]], had traveled to [[Pont-Aven]] in October 1888, where under the guidance of [[Paul Gauguin]] he made a small painting of the port on wood, composed of patches of vivid color assembled to give the feeling of the port. The students called this first Nabis painting ''[[The Talisman (painting)|The Talisman]]'', and it eventually became an icon of 20th-century art.<ref name="Daphne" />

In 1889, the same year of the Paris International Exposition and the opening of the [[Eiffel Tower]], the group held its first modest exposition at the Café des Arts, which was located without the grounds of the Exposition. It was titled ''The Impressionist and Synthesist Group'', and included works by two well-known artists, Paul Gauguin and [[Émile Bernard]].

In August 1890, [[Maurice Denis]], then nineteen years old, gave the group a more concrete philosophy. Writing under the name Pierre Louis, he wrote an article in the journal ''Art et Critique'' entitled ''The Definition of Neo-traditionalism'', which became the manifesto of the movement. The celebrated opening line of the essay was: "Remember that a picture, before being a battle horse, a female nude or some sort of anecdote, is essentially a flat surface covered with colors assembled in a certain order." This idea was not original to Denis; the idea had been put forward not long before by [[Hippolyte Taine]] in ''The Philosophy of Art'', where Taine wrote: "A painting is a colored surface, in which the various tones and various degrees of light are placed with a certain choice; that is its intimate being." However, it was the expression of Denis which seized the attention of artists. As Denis explained, he did not mean that the form of the painting was more important than the subject. He wrote, "The profoundness of our emotions comes from the sufficiency of these lines and these colors to explain themselves...everything is contained in the beauty of the work." In his essay, he termed this new movement "neo-traditionalism", in opposition to the "progressivism" of the Neo-impressionists, led by [[Seurat]].{{sfn|Bouillon|2006|pages=20–21}}

The following year, in 1891, three of the Nabis, [[Pierre Bonnard]], [[Édouard Vuillard]] and Maurice Denis, took a studio at 28 rue Pigalle in Paris. It was frequented by other early Nabis, including [[Ker-Xavier Roussel]] and Paul Sérusier, as well as journalists and figures from the theatrical and literary world.

In 1892, the Nabis branched out into the theatrical world and the decorative arts. Paul Ranson, assisted by Sérusier, Bonnard, and Vuillard, designed sets for a theatrical presentation of the ''Bateau ivre'' of the poet [[Arthur Rimbaud]]. Maurice Denis made costumes and sets for another theatrical production, the ''Trilogy d'Antoina'' at the Théatre Moderne, and also painted a ceiling for the residence of the art collector and painter [[Henry Lerolle]].

The Nabis held a group exhibition in Toulouse in June 1894, and the following year presented their work in [[Siegfried Bing]]'s Maison de l'Art Nouveau, the famous gallery which had given its name to the [[Art Nouveau]] movement.<ref name="Daphne" />

Throughout their existence the Nabis were a sort of half-serious semi-secret society, who used humorous nicknames and a private vocabulary.<ref name=chr>{{cite web | url = https://www.christies.com/features/10-things-to-know-about-Edouard-Vuillard-8635-1.aspx | title= The life and art of Édouard Vuillard| publisher= Christie's | date= 7 February 2019 |   access-date= 24 March 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210321173733/https://www.christies.com/features/10-things-to-know-about-Edouard-Vuillard-8635-1.aspx |  archive-date= 21 March 2021}}</ref> Even the name of the group was secret until 1897. They called a studio an 'ergasterium'<ref name=chr/> and ended their letters with the initials ''E.T.P.M.V. et M.P.'', signifying ''En ta paume, mon verbe et ma pensée'' ("In your palm, my word and my thoughts").<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.kemperart.org/exhibitions/palm-your-hand-my-words-and-my-thoughts | title= In The Palm of Your Hand, My Words and My Thoughts| publisher= Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art | date= 2017 |  access-date= 24 March 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210111063959/https://www.kemperart.org/exhibitions/palm-your-hand-my-words-and-my-thoughts | archive-date = 11 January 2021}}</ref>