Paul Ranson

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Portrait of Paul Ranson by Georges Lacombe

Continuing the theme of artists associated with Les Nabis, I�m taking a look at the work of Paul Ranson (1864 � 1909). Ranson was born in Limoges, France. As the son of a successful local politician, he received permission to pursue his artistic dreams and started studying at the Ecoles des Arts D�coratifs in Limoges, but transferred to the more prestigious Acad�mie Julian in Paris in 1886.

In 1888, at the Acad�mie, he met Paul S�rusier who encouraged him to join his post-impressionist art group Les Nabis. From 1890 onwards Ranson hosted meetings for Les Nabis at his home. Ranson�s work showed a consistent commitment to the decorative arts: like Aristide Maillol he made designs for tapestry, some of which were executed by his wife. His linear, sinuous style, seen in works such as Woman Standing beside a Balustrade with a Poodle, had strong affinities with Japanese prints and with contemporary developments in Art Nouveau design; it was a style suited to a variety of media, stained glass, lithography, ceramics or tapestry.

c1895 Woman Standing beside a Balustrade with a Poodle oil on panel

Ranson tended to favour exotic, symbolic or quasi-religious motifs rather than subjects observed from nature. In his Nabi Landscape of 1890, for example, he sets a variety of obscure feminine symbols within a fantasy landscape.

1890 Nabis Landscape

After his early death in 1909 his wife continued to run the Acad�mie Ranson, which they had opened in 1908 to disseminate Nabi aesthetic ideas and techniques to a younger generation. Teaching was undertaken on a voluntary basis by other Nabis, especially Maurice Denis and Paul S�rusier.