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Artist or Maker: EDOUARD VUILLARD (1868-1940)
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Dimensions: 19 by 20 3/4in. 48.3 by 52.7cm
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Provenance: Marguerite Chapin, Princesse Caetani de Bassiano, Paris
Bernheim-
Jeune, Paris (June 26, 1913)
Alex Reid, Glasgow (February 23, 1920)
Antonio de Santamarina, Buenos Aires (1951)
Lucy Escobar de
Santamarina, New Canaan, Connecticut (by descent from the above and
sold: Sotheby's, London, July 1, 1964, lot 77a)
Sale:
Sotheby's, London, July 2, 1969, lot 52
R. O. Peterson
Foundation, California (acquired at the above sale and sold:
Sotheby's, New York, May 11, 1993, lot 38)
Private Collection
(acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, New York, May 11,
1999, lot 108)
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Exhibited:
Glasgow, McLellan Galleries, French
Pictures, 1920, no. 136
Buenos Aires, Jacques Helft Gallery,
Ecole de Paris, 1951, no. 81
San Diego, Fine Arts Gallery,
on loan (1975)
San Diego, Fine Arts Gallery, on loan (1979)
Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts; Washington, D.C., The Phillips
Collection; New York, The Brooklyn Museum, The Intimate Interiors of
Edouard Vuillard, 1989-1990, no. 82
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Notes: Literature:
Burlington Magazine, London, June 1964,
no. 735, illustrated p. XLVII
Connoisseur, Paris, June 1964,
illustrated p. V
By the middle of the eighteen-nineties
Vuillard's social circle had enlarged considerably, principally through
his close relationship with the members of the Natanson family, particularly
Thadée Natanson and his wife, the Polish pianist Misia Godebska. With his
brothers Alfred and Alexandre, Thadée published the influential magazine
La Revue Blanche which introduced the work of many of the
most stimulating artists, both literary and visual, of the time. As Elizabeth
Wayne Easton has remarked: ``The year 1898, the same year in which
Vuillard immersed himself in paintings of Misia and her husband, marked a
turning point for the Natanson fortunes and consequently for the
couple's relationship. In that year, the review mounted a spirited
defense of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer who had been convicted unjustly
of treason. As a result of the politicization of the publication, its character
became radically changed, its contributors eventually moved on to other
endeavors, and it began a slow but noticeable decline. The waning fortunes
of the review inevitably exerted pressure on Thadée Natanson and
apparently affected his relationship with his wife. It is probable, in fact, that
Thadée encouraged a flirtation between Misia and a potential benefactor of
the Revue Blanche, Alfred Edwards. By 1903, when the review
ceased publication, the Natansons were at an impasse. In 1904 they
divorced, and the next year Misia married Edwards" (The Intimate
Interiors of Edouard Vuillard, (exhibition catalogue), The Museum of
Fine Arts, Houston, p. 108). In the present work, a tapestry (or possibly a
large decorative painting), reflecting Vuillard's admiration for the
tapestries at Cluny which he visited in 1894, fills the space normally occupied
by densely-patterned wallpaper or fabric. Parallel to the edges of the
canvas, its patterned borders enclose an idyllic scene of figures dancing in a
ring, conrasting with the intimate domestic interior in the foreground.
Although Thadée and Misia are seated with their backs to the spectator, the
viewer has an unmistakable sense of the intensity of their relationship.
Leaning forward, Misia seems to be studying her husband, who appears to be
deeply engrossed in a book, a manuscript, or a writing project of his own. We
are allowed a glimpse into the private life of two individuals close to the
center of the world of Parisian arts, letters, and music.
In the years
that followed, Thadée encountered serious financial problems in connection
with La Revue Blanche that may have strained the relationship,
but at this point he and Misia seem to have enjoyed a similar sense of
purpose and connection. This exceptionally beautiful Nabis interior is also a
reflection a Vuillard's own affection for the couple. As Elizabeth Easton
has noted, ``Vuillard seems to have grown quite close to the couple in about
1896, when he spent several months at their country home at Valvins. On
Christmas Eve 1996, he wrote in his journal: 'Thadée and his wife [a]
very good time. Tenderness, desires of work, ambitions and sensualities. . .
home at 4 in the morning, slept until noon. uncertainty and conflicting
desires. An abundance of memories" (Easton, op. cit.,
108).
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue
raisonné of Edouard Vuillard being prepared by Antoine Salomon and Guy
Cogeval under the sponsorship of the Wildenstein Institute.
