Edouard Vuillard

David David-Weill, Paris
Confiscated by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg and sent to the Jeu de Paume in 1941
Slated for shipment to Nikolsburg on 1 August 1944. The train never left Paris.
Restituted to David David-Weill after June 1945
Baronne de Bastard, Paris
Wildenstein & Cie., Paris
Private Collection, United Kingdom (acquired from the above circa 1972)
Acquired by the present owner in 2008

Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art & New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Edouard Vuillard, 1954, p. 103

Antoine Salomon & Guy Cogeval, Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance, Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels, Paris, 2003, vol. III, no. X-40, illustrated in colour p. 1199

Executed on wove paper, not laid down and intermittently attached to a backing board; the board is stable. The left edge of the sheet is deckled and the upper edge is unvevenly cut. There are a cluster of pin holes to the upper left corner and one to the upper right corner. There are paper remnants along all four edges from previous mounting. There is some abrasion along the right and lower edges from framing. This work is in overall good condition.
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Depicting an elegantly clad woman seated within the artist’s studio, Modèle sur un sofa vert reveals Edouard Vuillard’s superlative skill as a painter of intimate interior scenes, as well as illustrating his talents as a portrait painter. The model gazes pensively in the direction of the large brightly coloured canvas visible at the right hand side of the room, whilst various smaller works of art can be glimpsed adorning the rear wall. Stephen Brown has noted with specific reference to Vuillard’s portraits that: ‘Vuillard may be seen as the heir of Degas, Gauguin and the Impressionists. He was also an artist of his time and, more precisely, the artist of a particular social milieu and moment…’ (Stephen Brown, Edouard Vuillard, A painter and his muses, 1890-1940, p. 33). Vuillard’s portraits act as an intriguing record of early twentieth century Parisian life, documenting the cultural leaders of society during this period. In serving as the subject of one of Vuillard’s portraits, the model here depicted joined the ranks of those notable figures whom had also posed for the artist, including Tristan Bernard, Gaston and Josse Bernheim, Jos and Lucy Hessel and the Natanson family, all of whom played an important role as supporters and friends of the artist throughout his career.

Painted in 1915 as war raged across Europe, Modèle sur un sofa vert makes no reference to the political and social turmoil of the time. Instead, the scene seems to be imbued with an almost nostalgic glow, referencing Vuillard’s earlier Belle Epoque œuvre. However, the years of The First World War proved pivotal for Vuillard, who had spent several months at the Front in 1914. Guy Cogeval notes that: ‘The Great War was not a time of intense creative activity for Vuillard but rather the chance to rebuild his aspirations and ambitions on sterner, more intellectual principles… The war gave him the opportunity for a period of introspection that would lead to a rebirth’ (Guy Cogeval & Antoine Salomon, Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance, Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels, Paris, 2003, vol. III, p. 1177). Modèle sur un sofa vert was originally part of the collection of David David-Weill, a celebrated Parisian art collector who was a patron of Vuillard's.