Self-Portrait with his Family in Front of Their House 1916

Maurice Denis created this self-portrait with his family in front of their house, using oil on canvas. Look at the stippling, the way the paint is applied in little dots, it’s so process-oriented, right? You can almost see him dabbing away. There’s a real material quality here. The texture is visible, like you could reach out and feel the little bumps of paint. The color palette, those muted earth tones mixed with these bright, almost glowing oranges and pinks, gives the whole scene this dreamlike, nostalgic feeling. Check out the way he renders his beard, it almost looks like moss. That little detail makes you think about aging, time passing, the artist just existing in his space. Denis reminds me a bit of Bonnard, with that same interest in the everyday, domestic life, that same soft, hazy atmosphere. But where Bonnard feels more intimate, Denis feels a bit more distant, more like a memory. Art is so often about conversations, right?