Édouard Vuillard

Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 18, 1934, lot 105
Alfred Daber, Paris
Acquired from the above

Paris, Alfred Daber, Oeuvres remarquables de Vuillard, 1947
Paris, Huguette Berès, Vuillard le lithographe, 1956
Paris, Huguette Berès, Au Temps des Nabis, 1990, no. 116

Claude Roger-Marx, Vuillard et son temps, Paris, 1946, illustrated p. 70
Antoine Salomon and Guy Cogeval, Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance, Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels, vol. 1,  Paris, 2003, no. IV-179, illustrated p. 327 

The painting is considered to be in very good condition. In two locations on the left side of the image, the paint has lifted up from the carton. The artist's use of excessive oil in his paint mixture probably caused this. It is presently quite stable. The paint used in the black passage of shadow under and to the right of the figure has a pattern of wide craquelure, revealing the lighter ground. Again, this was the result of too much oil in the paint mixture. A shiny varnish covers the surface. This report was kindly provided by the restorer David Bull.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Madame Vuillard épluchant des legumes is one of many portraits that Vuillard painted of his mother, Marie Justine Alexandrine Michaud, whom he called his muse. Following the death of her husband in 1883, Madame Vuillard moved her corset-making shop to her home, where Vuillard lived with her until her death in 1928. Mme Vuillard's atelier was the focus of the artist's household, a milieu which influenced his work significantly.

Contrary to other Nabi painters, who based their subjects on mostly esoteric or religious statements, it was the representation of domestic interiors, traditionally reserved for women, which had proved popular with Vuillard. "I have only ever lived with women. That is how I get my inspiration," noted the painter in his diary in July 1894 (Journal, Carnet 2, July 27, 1894, Feuillet 47). According to Elizabeth Wynne Easton, "As early as November 1888 Vuillard filled a page of his journal with scenes of women working by lamplight around a table. Although these images were not transformed into paintings until a few years later, they nonetheless were a compelling subject for him from the time he began to think of himself as an artist. It is perhaps no coincidence that on the same journal page Vuillard made reference to the works in the Louvre of Jan Steen and Chardin and included a sketch of a painting by Johannes Vermeer. The intimate and sometimes disturbing depictions of daily life that characterise the works of these Dutch masters and the quiet power of Chardin's images of governesses and serving maids form the art historical background to Vuillard's scenes of women at work in his mother's atelier" (Elizabeth Wynne-Easton, The Intimate Interiors of Edouard Vuillard (exhibition catalogue), Houston, 1990, p. 26).

In the present work, Madame Vuillard is surrounded by an intimate atmosphere of soft and warm light. She sits peacefully in a chair, peeling potatoes. In the true Nabi spirit, the details of the dress are given as much importance as the other elements of the painting. A large white dish cloth rests on her knees, while the fabric of her dress is carefully detailed with colored stripes and dots.

 

Fig. I  Photograph of the artist's mother in 1898-99 at Rue des Batignolles, Paris.