FROM THE NYMPH TO THE WITCH. Study of the imaginary of Paul Élie-Ranson

Identifier:  TFG:7022

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TFG7022

Authors:  Recuenco Tortosa, Concepción

Abstract:
In France at le fin de siècle acts the figure of the painter Paul Élie-Ranson (Limoges, 1861- Paris, 1909), a little-known worldwide artist but who played an essential role for the evolution of art in the late nineteenth century along with his colleagues Les Nabis, (c.1888-1900). The Nabis ("prophets", from the hebrew nabiim) were a group of artists who were committed to the plastic innovations born in the Pont-Aven School (c.1886-1889), promoted by Gauguin. This group was characterized as the joyous and luminous branch of the leafy tree of Symbolism. They were looking for an art of deeper spiritual meaning, leading a way of life with aspects of oriental mysticism and ritualistic meetings. Nabis artists could be divided according to their production: some would be worry for representing this religious experience, while others would focus on developing in Art Nouveau. Ranson, far from opting for one side, would grow as a multidisciplinary artist working all kinds of artistic styles and combining his passion for the occult with decorative techniques. Despite this painter's talent, he is known "the forgotten nabi"; and its name has remained in the shadows until just two decades ago. Therefore, the main objective of the project is to support the weight of Nabis in the evolution of art, they aesthetic reflections and influences; specifically vindicating the figure of Paul Ranson. In this way, his critical fortune will be reviewed in comparison with the fame of other “nabian” colleagues. This project will focus, above all, on continuing the rediscovery of the artist, already begun by his descendants and the Maurice Denis Museum, as well as his closest production to Art Nouveau, a style that would mark the beginning of the Modernism in our territory.