Maurice Chabas

Maurice Chabas (Nantes, 1862 - Versailles, 1947) is an atypical painter who, simultaneously, produces a work with the most diverse aesthetics. Passing indiscriminately from academicism to Symbolism, Nabi or a certain abstraction, he refuses to be part of a single aesthetic and seeks above all to elevate the spirit and reveal Beauty. His metaphysical reflections and his spiritual quest led him to frequent theologians, Hindu mystics, astronomers like Camille Flammarion, spiritualists and occultists including Joséphin Péladan, founder of the Salon de la Rose-Croix where he exhibited from 1892 to 1897. Puvis de Chavanne's influence can be found in Ideal Country both in the style of the composition and in the subject treated: in a timeless nature (probably the mythical Mount Parnasse), the muses embodying the arts contemplate the waters of the lake, probable symbols of the unconscious and the secret of origins. From this allegorical vision of Art emerges an elegiac poetry and a dreamlike atmosphere characteristic of the Symbolists.