Édouard Vuillard attended the Lycée Condorcet in Paris, one of the oldest and most prestigious French high schools, on scholarship, where he studied classical art and rhetoric and became acquainted with several artists with whom he would later associate. After graduation he studied at the Académie Julian and in independent studios. After several failed attempts, Vuillard was accepted to the École des Beaux-Arts and studied with Tony Robert-Fleury and Jean-Léon Gérôme. A portrait of Vuillard’s grandmother was accepted into the 1889 Salon, the same year he completed his studies.
Read More
After brief military service, Vuillard became a full-time painter and decorative artist. In 1889 he also began to associate with a group of artists known as Les Nabis or “the prophets.” Many of the members, who included Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, and Ker-Xavier Roussel, had been peers at the Lycée and Académie Julian. The Nabis as a semi-formal and semi-secret organization, begun by Paul Serusier, a student of Paul Gauguin. The Nabis espoused the importance of color and its relationships as the foundation of painting, and that the beauty of the work was the source of its ultimate meaning. They also embraced symbolism and mysticsim. Their interests included the decorative arts and theater as well as the aesthetics of Japanese woodblock prints, of which Vuillard was an avid collector. Vuillard shared a studio with Pierre Bonnard and Maurice Denis, exhibiting his paintings and finding work designing sets and graphics for the theater, decorative panels for the homes of high end clients, patterns for serving ware, and stained glass windows.
Vuillard’s own work frequently depicted interior scenes rendered in bold colors with decorative patterned backgrounds, many inspired by his love of Japanse prints. After the breakup of the Nabis in 1900, his style became more naturalistic, but he remained focused on domestic interiors and gardens. He was well recognized during his career, completing important commissions for public buildings, theaters, and private clients. He was also an accomplished portrait painter of distinguished Parisians.
Lucy Hessel was the wife of the Swiss art dealer Jos Hessel, Vuillard’s agent and dealer. Lucy Hessel was the artist’s muse and possibly lover for many years. This interior depicts a luncheon at Hessel’s home.