Édouard Vuillard

Georges Bénard, Paris (acquired directly from the artist and sold: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, October 14, 1942, lot 82)
Private Collection, Paris
Acquired from the above in the 1980s

Paris, Hôtel de la Curiosité et des Beaux-Arts, Première exposition de collectionneurs, 1924, no. 66 (titled Portrait)
New York, Jacques Seligmann, Paintings by Bonnard, Vuillard, Roussel, 1930, no. 24 (dated 1929)
La Chaux-de-Fonds, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bonnard, Vuillard, Vallotton, 1946, no. 30
Stockholm, Galerie d'Art Latin, Vuillard, 1948, no. 13 (dated 1925)
Munich, Kunstverein, Bonnard, Roussel, Vuillard, 1959, no. 56
Asnières, Salon d'Asnières, Hommage à Vuillard, 1966, no. 6, illustrated in the catalogue

Antoine Salomon & Guy Gogeval, Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance. Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels, vol. III, Paris, 2003, no. X-236, illustrated in color p. 1293

The canvas is not lined and there are no signs of retouching under UV light. Apart from some light stable craquelure to the thicker areas of pigment, this work is in good condition. Colours: The colours are overall more subtle, with the yellow tones less pronounced, in the original.
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.

This portrait of Madame Reine Benard perfectly illustrates Vuillard's adage, 'I don't paint portraits. I paint people in their homes' (Vuillard quoted in André Chastel, Vuillard, 1868-1940, Paris, 1946, p. 94). The sitter is almost submerged by the rich décor of her salon; the pink of her dress is less prominent than the brilliant red of the Chinese fabric on the upright piano, and the attention to the statuary and the pictures that line the wall is equal to that given to the sitter. The subject is given far less prominence than in traditional portraiture, and the entire work is less a rendering of an individual character than a social milieu.

Vuillard first became interested in painting portraits around 1905, and this shift in focus was linked to changes in his social status; after he signed a contract with Galerie Bernheim-Jeune he began to frequent the homes of the wealthy grande bourgeoisie. However, despite having to paint in what appears to be a more conservative manner, Vuillard succeeds in retaining many of the characteristics of his work of the Nabis period. Earlier in his career the decorative flatness of his compositions had given a formal unity to the wide variety of highly patterned surfaces that competed for attention. In the present composition this formal unity still remains a priority, and the prominence of the surroundings attest to his continued interest in decorative settings. This integration of subject and surroundings was linked to modernist ideas; in 1932 Vuillard recommended to Bonnard an essay by Edmond Duranty called La Nouvelle Peinture, in which the author suggests 'Since we stick close to nature, we no longer separate the figure from the background of the apartment or of the street. The figure would never appear to us, in real life, against a neutral, empty, vague background. But around it there is furniture, mantelpieces, wall hangings, a backdrop that speaks of the subject's wealth, class, profession' (Edmond Duranty, La Nouvelle Peinture, Paris, 1876, p. 27). The prominence given to decorative surroundings was a means of disrupting the traditional hierarchy of subject matter in portrait paintings, as well as a means of symbolising social status.