Sold at Auction: Edouard Vuillard

(b Bourgogne, France, 1868; d Loire-Atlantique, France, 1940) French Painter. A founding member of the Nabi group, Edouard Vuillard is better known for his intimate scenes than for his religious symbolism. Like his friend Pierre Bonnard, he preferred to concentrate on contemporary subjects, becoming a caricaturist of the pantomime of daily life. With great talent and sensitivity, Vuillard captured scenes from everyday life in the cosseted surroundings of the Parisian apartments he frequented. Along with Bonnard, Vallotton and Toulouse-Lautrec, the painter was one of the regular dinner guests of the Natanson's, a couple who played a major role in the history of French symbolism. Vuillard's art stands out due to his treatment of materials and the rich decorative effects they conceal. He had a discrete nature and a talent for expressing, with almost sketched strokes, the elegance of figures. Like shadow puppets outlined on the back of the stage, they recall the craze among French symbolists for Japanese engravings, which were very fashionable in Paris during the second half of the XIXth century. (Credit: Christie’s, Paris, Collection Jeanne Lanvin Fondations Polignac Kerjean et Forteresse de Polignac, December 1, 2008, lot 15)