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Artist or Maker: Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940)

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Provenance: Estate of the artist.
Private collection, Paris.
Anon. sale, Palais d'Orsay, Paris, 21 June 1978, lot. 92.
Anon. sale, Drouot-Montaigne, Paris, 27 October 1994, lot 15.
Acquired at the above sale by the previous owner.

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Literature: A. Salomon and G. Cogeval, Vuillard: Catalogue critique des peintures et pastels, Paris, 2003, vol. III, p. 1327, no. XI-57 (illustrated in color).

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Notes: PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION

Although the work of Vuillard is closely associated with the street scenes of Paris and vignettes of the lives of its denizens, many of the prototypical works by the artist also represent the environs of Paris. Throughout the 1920s, the artist divided his time between the Clos Cézanne in Vaucresson and the Closerie des Genêts (a small villa near the Clos Cézanne) providing Vuillard with a peaceful environment in which to work. Vuillard frequently traveled with the family of his art dealer, Jos Hessel, a partner in Bernheim-Jeune. During this time, the Hessels acquired the home in the countryside near Paris in exchange for a Cezanne painting that inspired the name of the property.

Kimberly Jones describes Vuillard's soujourn as "while somewhat sedentary in contrast to the villegiatures spent in Normandy and Brittany, life at Vaucresson was still lively because of the presence of Lucy Hessel, who remained the consummate hostess whether in Paris or the countryside. Many of Vuillard's companions from the summers in Normandy were regular guests while other, more recent acquaintances, such as Sacha Guitry and Yvonne Printemps, also passed through the Clos Cézanne." (Edouard Vuillard, exh. cat., The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, p. 453). Jones also describes the work produced during that time as "as fruitful as those he had passed in Normandy" (ibid., p. 454).

The present picture depicts Vuillard's uniquely intimate world of Clos Cézanne. The brilliant color, arrangement of light and detail of the landscape provide stark contrast to the figures engaged in quiet conversation. Concerning the pictures executed at this time, Jones contests that "though the works he created there may appear unfinished to the casual observer, they are perfect expressions of their time and place, harkening back to the fluid and boldly experimental works he had produced during his stays in Brittany some two decades earlier." (ibid., p. 454).