The Ateliers d'Art Sacré were founded on 15 November 1919 after World War I (1914-18) by Maurice Denis (1870–1943) and Georges Desvallières (1861–1950) as part of a broad movement in Europe to reconcile the church with modern civilization.

[1] Their aim was to train artists and crafts people in the practice of Christian art and to provide tasteful religious works of traditional and modern style to churches, particularly those that had been devastated by the war.

Built over the 1928-35 period by the architect Paul Tournon, the church’s murals were painted by forty artists including Maurice Denis, Georges Desvallières, Henri Marret, Jean Dupa, Pauline Peugniez and Robert Poughéon.

In Denis’ view, modern artistic education should strive to develop sensitivity, free the imagination of students, train them in craftsmanship, while also cultivating their reason and their taste.

[citation needed] The broader objective of the Ateliers was that its students would ultimately form a community of trained and fraternal Christian artists, working in the spirit of the corporations of the Middle Ages.

[citation needed] By founding the Sacred Art Workshops in 1919 with George Desvallières, Maurice Denis trained a whole generation of young painters.

His official recognition reached its peak after the end of the First World War, when several retrospective exhibitions were dedicated to him (Biennale of Venice in 1922, Pavillon de Marsan in Paris in 1924).

[3] The Canadian painter Jean Dallaire (1916–1965) received a grant from the government of Quebec that allowed him to go to Paris and study at Ateliers d'Art Sacré and the studio of André Lhote.

[6] Over the longer term, revenues from church commissions were not sufficient to sustain the Ateliers, which closed on the decision of their Board at the beginning of the 1947 academic year.

[citation needed] Also noteworthy are the large number of women among the Companions and student's and the fact that this trend will have lasted for about thirty years despite the difficulties encountered.