For his technique, Denis was first drawn toward the neoimpressionist style of Seurat, but rejected it as too scientific. In 1889, Denis was captivated by an exposition of works of Gauguin and his friends at the Cafe Volponi, on the edge of the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889. Recalling it later, Denis wrote, "What amazement, followed by what a revelation! In place of windows opening on nature, like the impressionists, these were surfaces which were solidly decorative, powerfully colorful, bordered with brutal strokes, partitioned." The work of Gauguin had an immediate effect on Denis' work. The brightly colored forms of Gauguin's "Vache au-dessus du gouffre" first shown in 1889, appeared in an October 1890 work by Denis, "Taches du soleil sur la terrace", and later in Denis' Solitude du Christ" (1918).