Maurice Chabas

{{Short description|French painter (1862–1947)}} {{more citations needed|date=September 2014}} {{Expand French|topic=bio|date=April 2009|Maurice Chabas}}

'''Maurice Chabas''' (21 September 1862, Nantes – 11 December 1947, Versailles) was a French Symbolist painter.<ref>[http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00034837 Benezit Dictionary of Artists]</ref>

== Biography ==

Chabas came from a family of painters. Being the eldest child, he had to take over the family business, although he was interested in painting. His younger brothers, Maurice and Paul, were renowned painters.<ref name="Maurice Chabas">{{cite web|last=de Palma|first=Myriam|title=Maurice Chabas|url=http://www.artexpertswebsite.com/pages/artists/chabas.php|publisher=Art Experts|accessdate=30 July 2013}}</ref>

Chabas was a prolific artist, and debuted his work in 1885 at the Salon, where he would continue to present his works until 1913. Chabas was also a sensitive and often mystical artist and participated in many Rosicrucian meetings in the 1890s. His reputation spreads and by 1895, is the subject of an exhibition at a gallery in Paris.

In 1900, Chabas moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine, where his studio became a hub for scholars like Camille Flammarion, Charles Richet, Maurice Maeterlinck, Léon Bloy, Lucien Lévy-Brulh, Joséphin Péladan, Edouard Schuré, and René Guénon. Until he moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine, Chabas was a little-known figure. That changed after 1900, when his popularity escalated.<ref name="Maurice Chabas"/>

In 1910 he met the Belgian Gabrielle Storms-Castelot, and they had two children, the writer André Castelot and the actor Jacques Castelot. In 1917, he became a member of the Theosophical Society, although he also maintained friendships with leading Roman Catholic intellectuals such as novelist François Mauriac.<ref>Myriam de Palma, [https://wrldrels.org/2017/04/12/maurice-chabas/ Maurice Chabas], ''World Religions and Spirituality Project'', April 10, 2017.</ref>

In the last years of his life, Chabas mostly cultivated his personal mysticism and lived as a recluse. He died in solitude in his Versailles home on 11 December 1947.<ref>Myriam de Palma,''Maurice Chabas (1862-1947), peintre et messager spirituel'', Paris: Somogy 2009, 11-20.</ref>

==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights=160> File:Maurice Chabas - Néméa 1894.jpg|''Néméa'', 1894 File:Maurice Chabas - L'Apparition.jpg|''L'Apparition'', circa 1900 File:Maurice Chabas - L'Élegante dans l'Atelier.jpg|''L'Élegante dans l'Atelier'', circa 1900 File:Maurice Chabas - Return to Cythera.jpg|''Return to Cythera'', circa 1900 File:Maurice Chabas - Reverie au Bord du Lac.jpg|''Reverie au Bord du Lac'', circa 1900 File:Maurice Chabas - Two Women in a Park.jpg|''Two Women in a Park'', circa 1900 File:Maurice Chabas La chaste Suzanne.jpg|''La chaste Suzanne'', 1903 File:M. Chabas, Pins de Kerdruc.jpg|circa 1905

</gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chabas}} Category:19th-century French painters Category:French male painters Category:20th-century French painters Category:20th-century French male artists Category:French Symbolist painters Category:1862 births Category:1947 deaths Category:19th-century French male artists