Édouard Vuillard

Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired from the artist)
Henri Canonne, Paris (acquired in 1923)
Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (acquired in 1923)
Étienne Bignou, Paris (acquired in 1924)
Alex Reid, Glasgow (acquired in 1925)
Étienne Bignou, Paris (acquired in 1925)
Jean Metthey, Paris (acquired circa 1948)
Germaine Lecomte, Paris
Durey, Paris
Sale: Palais d'Orsay, Paris, March 22, 1979, lot 15
Galerie Schmit, Paris
Maruko Partners in Art, Tokyo
Porch Museum, Hakone Sengkuhara

Paris, Bernheim-Jeune, Vuillard, 1911, no. 5
Glasgow-London, Catalogue of the Works of Some of the Most Eminent French Painters of Today, 1923, no. 43
Paris, Galerie Charpentier, Beautés de la Provence, 1948, no. 43
Paris, Galerie Schmit, Maître français XIX^e-XX^e siècles, 1979, no. 75, illustrated in the catalogue
Paris, Galerie Schmit, Pour Mon Plaisir, 1982, no.106, illustrated in the catalogue
Japan, travelling exhibition, 1990-91, no. XVII-3, illustrated in the catalogue

Makarius, Vuillard, Paris, 1989, illustrated p. 27
Antoine Salomon & Guy Cogeval, Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance, Critical Catalogue of Painting and Pastels, vol. II, Milan, 2003, no. VIII-373, illustrated p. 997

Good condition. Executed on wove paper. Pin holes at corners; small nick at upper left edge; very small dots of loss in white circle at upper left corner; sheet slightly dirty and time darkened overall.
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Executed in 1910, The Genoese Muslin Tablecloth is one of many portraits that Vuillard painted.  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, the sitter is surrounded by an intimate atmosphere of soft and warm light. She sits peacefully in a chair at a table. In the true Nabi spirit, the details of the surrounding fabrics are given as much importance as the other elements of the painting. A large white chair frames the sitter, while the black fabric of her dress strikes a dramatic contrast to the her wide-brimmed sun hat.