Édouard Vuillard

Mögens Ballin, Paris (a gift from the artist in 1893)
M. Rohde, Copenhagen
Théodor Wolfer, Denmark
Acquired in the 1950s

Stockölm, Liljevachs Konsthall, 1954, no. 396a
Paris, Huguette Berès, Bonnard, Roussel, Vuillard, 1957, no. 68
Paris, Huguette Berès, Au Temps des Nabis, 1990, no. 100

Antoine Salomon and Guy Cogeval, Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance, Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels, vol. 1,  Paris, 2003, no. IV-50 , illustrated p. 256 

Very Good Condition. The edges of the card are slightly rubbed and a piece of slightly discolored paper obscures the upper right edge. The surface is slightly dirty. Under UV light, there is a dot of inpainting in the lower right section of white pigment and one dot near the upper center edge, otherwise fine.
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.

Signac noted in his diary after visiting Vuillard in 1898, that the latter's "little sketches of various interior scenes are very charming. He understands, marvellously, the voice of the things. These are the sketches of a talented painter, these pictures of a polychromatic dullness, within which a colour's levity always appears, rendering the work so harmonious." This painting of a young woman sewing subtly introduces us to the intimacy of the artist's everyday world. Julius Meier-Graefe wrote in 1904,  "No other artist has ever been able to give an interior so much depth - this sentiment of an inhabited environment. We taste with him the same kind of intimacy that is offered in a conversation between amiable people when the words lead us to a perception of reciprocal intangibility, when thought is no longer attributed to the speech being exchanged and we keep quiet from fear of disturbing it [...]" (Julius Meier-Graefe, The Development of Modern Art, 1908 (original edition in German, 1904, quoted in John Russell, Vuillard, London, 1971, p. 98).

As is revealed by the dedication on the back of the canvas, Vuillard most probably offered this example of his work to a fellow painter and member of the Nabis, Mogëns Ballin, as an affectionate display of gratitude to Ballin after he arranged an exhibition of works by the Nabi at the Kleis Gallery in Copenhagen in 1893, in which Vuillard's work was displayed and sold.