Maurice DENIS (Granville, 1870 - Paris, 1943) Malon and Dominique on the Heath, 1911-1912 Oil on cardboard. Monogrammed lower left. 25 x 36 cm Provenance: - Deposited by the artist at Galerie Druet, Paris, January 7, 1917, for sale 800 francs net, stock number 8748 (label on back). - Taken back by the artist from the previous one on April 22, 1918. - Collection Bernadette Denis (1899-1987), daughter of the artist. - Gallery Sabine Helms, Munich, acquired from the former in 1975 (back label). - Private collection, Bremen, acquired from the latter in 1976. We would like to thank Mr. David Lestrigant for providing us with information about the provenance of this work, which will be included in the catalog raisonné of Maurice Denis's painted work. Maurice Denis really discovered Brittany in 1893, when he returned there on his honeymoon with Marthe. In 1908, thanks to the money he received from the commission of a decor for the collector Morosov in Moscow, Denis was finally able to acquire an imposing residence overlooking the bay of Trestignel in Perros-Guirec, the Villa Silencio. From now on, he stays there every summer with his tribe. The beach, the emerald moor and the pink granite rocks inhabit his compositions. A happy father since the birth of his fourth daughter, Madeleine, in 1906 and his son Dominique, in 1909, Denis then gave himself over to a whole variation of works on the theme of childhood, taking advantage of the panorama offered by the villa. Denis used colors with often vivid pigments to capture the fluctuations of the Breton weather, replacing "light with color" and thus succeeding in rendering all the charm of this country that he loved so much. Our oil on cardboard, with its tight framing and almost absent perspective, revives the artist's Pont-Aveniste years (vertical elevation of the moor) and is placed below the Silencio villa. Set out to pick daisies, "Malon" and his little brother "Domi" seem to emerge from the ferns, in the middle of a green heath. Our composition, with colors both tender and subtle - harmony of gray, pinks and greens - has a particularly poetic character, marked by a great sweetness, which make it a work of intimate character.