Maurice Chabas (21 September 1862, Nantes – 11 December 1947, Versailles) was a French Symbolist painter.^[1]

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.^[2]

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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 December 11, 1947.^[4]

Gallery

• 
  Néméa, 1894
• 
  L'Apparition, circa 1900
• 
  L'Élegante dans l'Atelier, circa 1900
• 
  Return to Cythera, circa 1900
• 
  Reverie au Bord du Lac, circa 1900
• 
  Two Women in a Park, circa 1900
• 
  La chaste Suzanne, 1903
• 
  circa 1905

References