Mme Vuillard in a Set Designer's Studio Postcard

Édouard Vuillard (French, Cuiseaux 1868–1940 La Baule) The complex architecture of this interior suggests that it was painted in the studio where Vuillard worked as a set painter. The figure shown before the staircase may be Vuillard’s mother, a seamstress, who appears to be crouching over a balustrade either working on a garment or in pensive repose. Starting in 1889, Vuillard was associated with a group of young avant-garde artists who called themselves the Nabi (Hebrew for “prophet”). They painted from memory, unlike their predecessors, the Impressionists, who painted of the moment.