The Friends of Maurice Denis, currently numbering more than 300 members, is an organisation whose mission is to promote and raise awareness of the work of the artist.
Maurice Denis was the founding father of the Nabis group of artists and one of the protagonists of the revolution in the visual art which marked the years 1890-1900. A major figure in the artistic, literary and musical circles of the time, Maurice Denis was very successful as a painter, decorative artist and illustrator as well as being a critic and theoretician. He was moreover the mentor of many generations of artists who visited him in his studios in Paris, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, especially at Le Prieuré – now a Denis heritage site – and in Perros-Guirec, his Brittany residence.
The Society of the Friends of Maurice Denis is independent from the Maurice Denis Museum at Saint-Germain but nevertheless aims to contribute to a greater awareness of the richness of its collections along with the charm of the museum building itself and its garden. The Friends take an active interest in the museum’s development and notably, more recently, the restoration of the artist’s studio.
The Society organises lectures, visits and a range of events. It supports the activities of museums and other organisations in France and abroad concerned with the work of Maurice Denis, research projects as well as the preparation of the Catalogue Raisonné of his paintings, to be published in 2025.