The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

The Orange Christ

1889

Maurice Denis

(French, 1870–1943)
France
oil on board
Unframed: 23.8 x 18.9 cm (9 3/8 x 7 7/16 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.107
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

As reflected in the two-dimensionality and color blocking in this painting, Denis believed a painting was "a flat surface covered with colors assembled in a certain order."

Description

A devout Catholic, Maurice Denis sought to create what he described as “imperishable icons.” In this small painting, he used flat planes of intense colors to conjure emotion in the viewer. Here, a somber group of women, depicted as amorphous black forms, gather around an orange figure of Christ on the cross. The sky is a reddish-purple streaked with green clouds. Pink angels flank the crucified Christ whose head is haloed in brilliant yellow. In this painting, the daring young artist combined religious fervor with unprecedented visual experimentation.
  • The artist's studio
    By descent to the artist’s son, Jean-François Denis [1915–2004], Alençon, France
    by 2005–2007
    (Galerie Hopkins Custot, Paris, France, March 21, 2007, sold to Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley)
    2007–2020
    Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 [1] According to Anne Distel, Maurice Denis (Paris: Ministère d'État, Affaires culturelles, 1970), cat. no. 7, the painting was in the collection of J.F. Denis, Alençon. 
    2 [2] According to Belinda Thomson, Frances Fowle, and Lesley Stevenson, Gauguin’s Vision (Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 2005), p. 83, fig. 102, ill.
  • Musée Toulouse-Lautrec. Exposition Maurice Denis; peintures, aquarelles, dessins, lithographies, du 28 juin au 29 septembre 1963, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec. Albi.1963. Mentioned: P. 21, cat. no. 5
    Angers. Maurice Denis & les Nabis: exposition Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Angers, du 1er juin au 31 août 1967. Angers, France: Le Musée, 1967. Mentioned: no. 2
    Distel, Anne. Maurice Denis. Orangerie des Tuileries, 3 juin-31 août 1970. Paris, France: Ministère d'État, Affaires culturelles, 1970. Mentioned: no. 7
    Maurice Denis, 1870-1943. Honfleur, France: Societe des artistes Honfleurais, 1975. Mentioned: no. 3
    Welsh-Ovcharov, Bogomila, and Vincent van Gogh. Vincent Van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1981. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 380, no. 143
    Welsh-Ovcharov, Bogomila. Vincent Van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism. Toronto, Ontario: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1981. Reproduced: p. 380, no. 143
    Janin-Juvigny, Sophie, Françoise Ramassamy, and Guy Taburet. 100 ans après à Alençon: 6 juillet-29 septembre 1985, Musée des beaux-arts et de la dentelle. Alençon, France: Le Musée, 1985. Reproduced: p. 25, no. 19
    Le chemin de Gauguin: genèse et rayonnement. Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France: Musée départemental du Prieuré, 1985. Reproduced: P. 94
    Tuchman, Maurice, Judi Freeman, and Carel Blotkamp. The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985. New York: Abbeville Press, 1986. Reproduced: P. 353-354
    Musée des Beaux Arts, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Walker Art Gallery, and Van Gogh Museum. Maurice Denis: 1870-1943. Paris, France: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1994. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 139, no. 19
    Thomson, Belinda, Frances Fowle, and Lesley Stevenson. Gauguin's Vision. Edinburgh: National Galleries of Scotland, 2005. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 83, fig. 102
    Stahl, Fabienne. "Maurice Denis." In The Keithley Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art, edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, 68-73. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 68-73; Mentioned: p. 261-263
  • Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
    Gauguin’s Vision. Royal Scottish Academy Building, Edinburgh, Scotland (July 6- October 2, 2005).
    Maurice Denis, 1870-1943. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon, France (September 29-December 18, 1994); Wallraf-Richarts Museum, Cologne, Germany (January 22-April 2,1995); Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, United Kingdom (April 21-June 18, 1995); Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (July 7-September 17, 1995).
    The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA organizer) (November 23, 1986-March 8, 1987); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL (April 17-July 19, 1987); Haags Gemeentemuseum, (September 1-November 22, 1987).
    Le chemin de Gauguin : genese et rayonnement. Musée du Prieure, Yvelines, France (October 7, 1985- March 2, 1986).
    Maurice Denis - 100 ans apres a Alencon. Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Dentelle d'Alencon, Alencon, France (July 6-September 29, 1985).
    Vincent van Gogh and the Birth of Cloisonism. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario (January 24 - March 22, 1981); Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (April 9 - 14 June 1981).
    Maurice Denis. Salles d'Exposition du Grenier à Sel, Honfleur, France (July - Aug. 1975).
    Maurice Denis. Orangerie des Tuilleries, Paris, France (June 1-August 31, 1970).
    Maurice Denis et les Nabis. Musée des beaux-arts, Angers, France (June 1-August 31, 1967).
    Maurice Denis. Wildenstein Gallery, London, United Kingdom (1964).
    Maurice Denis. Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi, France (June 28-September 29, 1963).
    Maurice Denis. Galerie Beaux-Arts, Paris, France (1963).
  • {{cite web|title=The Orange Christ|url=false|author=Maurice Denis|year=1889|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.107