Paul Ranson - Les Nabis

Paul Ranson - Christ and Buddha - c. 1890 - Oil on canvas - Height: 66.7 cm (26.26 in.), Width: 51.4 cm (20.24 in.) - Private Collection (click photo for larger image)French painter and writer Paul Ranson (1864-1909) was an important member of Les Nabis, a group of Post-Impressionists who became very important in the realm of graphic arts. The language of that movement was put forth by Ranson, and he and his wife eventually set up an academy for teaching the ideas and techniques of the Nabis. Philosophically, they believed that a work of art is the end product and the visual expression of an “artist's synthesis of nature in personal aesthetic metaphors and symbols.” Les Nabis paved the way for the early 20th century developments of abstract and non-representational art.