Édouard Vuillard - The Album [1895]

Édouard Vuillard - The Album [1895], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

In 1894–95, Thadée and Misia Natanson commissioned from Vuillard a series of five decorative panels known collectively as The Album. The unusual character of these works matched that of the Natansons' Paris apartment, a large open space adjoined by several small alcove areas. Its unconventional decor reflected Misia's taste, which was inspired by the English Arts and Crafts movement. The apartment often served as an alternative office for Thadée's lively avant-garde journal, La Revue Blanche. Among the contributors to this influential publication were Claude Debussy, Léon Blum, Stéphane Mallarmé, and André Gide. The evocative Symbolist qualities of Mallarmé's poetry and Debussy's music find echoes in Vuillard's five panels, which take their name from this painting.

[Oil on canvas, 67.9 x 204.5 cm]