Orpheus and Eurydice 1910

oil-on-canvas

abstract painting

impressionist painting style

impressionist landscape

handmade artwork painting

fluid art

acrylic on canvas

naive art

france

painting painterly

oil-on-canvas

watercolor

expressionist

Maurice Denis’s 1910 painting "Orpheus and Eurydice" depicts the Greek myth of Orpheus, who ventures into the underworld to bring back his wife Eurydice. The scene is set in a lush forest, with figures in white robes amidst a field of purple flowers. This painting exemplifies the "Nabis" style, which valued decorative elements and symbolic imagery over realism, with a focus on flat color and simplified forms. The composition emphasizes harmony and spirituality, mirroring the story of Orpheus and Eurydice's reunion. The artwork is currently held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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In Greek mythology, Orpheus is portrayed as a poet and musician from Thrace whose lyre playing could charm all who heard his seductive music. In this representation, Eurydice, the wood nymph who became Orpheus's wife, kneels transfixed by his song. Like many Symbolist artists, Denis explored the power of music as a theme in his art, hoping to make the visual arts as lyrical and suggestive as sound itself.