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The Musée Départemental Maurice Denis is dedicated to the life and work of Maurice Denis, the French symbolist painter and theoretician of the Nabi School.

The Nabi school was a very interesting French-led art movement. The Nabis (from the old testament word for true prophet) were concerned with God and mysticism, but chiefly with artistic methodology.

Heavily influenced by Gaugin, the Nabis believed that when an artist strove merely for resemblance, he necessarily used tricks to deceive the eye and most often, left mere description—not art—as his product.

The Nabis were very much an intellectual movement and though they were not truly successful in their aims, theirs was an influential school with a distinct legacy.

Maurice Denis rented the building and the grounds and began to work there in 1910. He lived here until his death in 1943. The works from the Nabis school present in the Musée Départemental Maurice Denis include those of Paul Sérusier, Paul Ranson, Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard and Félix Vallotton, as well as sculptures by Paul Gauguin.

One can also visit the adjacent chapel, restored and decorated by Maurice Denis from 1915 and 1928, as well as his workshop, built in 1912. The building and its grounds were placed on the register of monuments historiques in 1976. Come explore the fascinating history of Musée Départemental Maurice Denis with the Paris Pass sightseeing card!