Villa D’este 1928

Maurice Denis made this painting of the Villa d’Este, probably en plein air, with oil on canvas. Look at the way the paint is applied; it’s almost dry, scrubbed on in layers. The palette is restrained, dominated by greens and earthy browns, which gives the whole scene a slightly hazy, dreamlike quality. See how the cypress trees in the foreground are rendered with vertical strokes, almost like a screen, obscuring the landscape beyond. The texture of the canvas remains visible throughout, reminding us of the materiality of the painting itself. It’s not about illusionism, but about the process of seeing and translating that experience onto a flat surface. The three figures standing on the terrace, simplified and almost ghostlike, add to the sense of timelessness. There’s a connection here to other Symbolist painters like Puvis de Chavannes, with that same sense of melancholy and nostalgia. But Denis brings his own modern sensibility, embracing ambiguity over clear representation.