The Blue Ghost of Paul Ranson

Paul Ranson didn't paint the ocean to show you a vacation spot. He painted it to show you a state of mind. It was 1891 and the Nabis were tired of the world as it was. Ranson was the one they called the Nabi plus japonisant because he saw the world through the lens of Japanese woodblock prints. He didn't want soft edges or realistic light. He wanted the heavy black lines that carve a person out of the background.

The Blue Bather is a study in what happens when you throw away the rules. The palette is a monochromatic wash that feels more like a dream than a beach. There is no sun here. There is only a mystical atmosphere that swallows the figure whole. Ranson and his friends prioritized decorative harmony over the boring reality of three dimensional space. They wanted a flat surface that spoke to the soul.

This work landed at the Galerie Le Barc de Boutteville during the Nabis shows and it didn't look like anything else. It was oil on canvas but it felt like a sacred object. It is small only measuring about twenty one inches but it carries the weight of a new religion. Ranson died in 1909 and the world moved on to even stranger things. But this blue figure remains. It is a reminder that sometimes the most honest way to see a person is to outline them in ink and drown them in blue.

References

Groom, Gloria. Beyond the Easel Decorative Painting by Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, and Ranson, 1890-1930. Art Institute of Chicago, 2001.

Humbert, Agnès. Les Nabis et leur époque. Pierre Cailler, 1954.

Ranson, Paul. The Blue Bather. 1891. Oil on canvas. Private collection.