Edouard Vuillard

Child Lying on a Rug, 1904, oil on panel, 15 x 21

EDOUARD VUILLARD IS PERHAPS best known for his intimate interiors painted from 1890 to 1900. As charming as they may be (the term “intimism” was even coined) they are too often appreciated only in this context. As pure paintings they are a wonderful exercise in color and pattern-on-pattern design. Wall paper, sofas, dresses and rugs patterned in the decor of the day certainly lend themselves to such design; however, they are also ideal vehicles for the artist's interest in pattern and shape.

In “Child Lying on a Rug” the baby is nearly obscured within the tapestry of shapes. Clearly, this is no accident of intimism, but the artist at play with ambiguity and abstraction. Early in his career he was a member of the “Nabis,” a group of young post-Impressionists that followed Gaughin's ideas of composing in flat, unmodeling areas of color. Other Nabis included Pauel Seruzier, Maurice Denis, and Pierre Bonnard.

View more of Vuillard's work online at artcyclopedia.com