Josse & Gaston Bernheim de Villers, France (acquired directly from the artist)
Sale: Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 7th December 1954, lot 45
Sam Salz, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Paris, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Vuillard, œuvres récentes, 1913, no. 5
Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, The 1935 International Exhibition of Paintings, 1935, no. 182
Toledo, Museum of Art, European Section of the Thirty-third Carnegie International Exhibition of Paintings, 1936, no. 101
Paris, Petit Palais, Les maîtres des arts indépendants, 1895-1937, 1937, no. 20 
Paris, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, É. Vuillard, 1938, no. 149d
Paris, Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Les Magiciens de la peinture, 1949
Montreal, Museum of Fine Arts, Édouard Vuillard, 2003

Achille Ségard, Peintres d'aujour d'hui: Les décorateurs, Paris, 1914, vol. II, p. 321
Jacques Salomon, Vuillard témoignage, Paris, 1945, p. 64
André Chastel, Vuillard, 1868-1940, Paris, 1946, p. 90
Claude Roger-Marx, Vuillard et son temps, Paris, 1946, pp. 140, 142, 143 & 188
Curt Schweicher, Die Bildraumgestaltung, das Dekorative und das Ornamentale im Werke von Édouard Vuillard, Zurich, 1949, pp. 71, 85-88, 127 & 128
Roseline Bacou, "Décors d'appartements au temps des Nabis", in Art de France, Paris, 1964, vol. IV, p. 196
Jacques Salomon, Vuillard, Paris, 1968, p. 26
Belinda Thomson, Vuillard, Oxford, 1988, p. 78
Gloria Lynn Groom, Édouard Vuillard Painter-Decorator: Patrons and Projects, London, 1993, p. 208
Antoine Salomon & Guy Cogeval, Vuillard. The Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels, Milan, 2003, vol. II, no. IX-159.10, illustrated in colour 🥀p. 1101

The canvas is not lined. The canvas has been re-worked by the artist at a later date, but there is no evidence of retouching by another hand visible under UV light. This work is in good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate although lighter and more subtle in the original.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present work was commissioned from the artist by Josse Bernheim and Gaston Bernheim de Villers for their villa, Bois-Lurette, at Villers-sur-Mer, where Vuillard painted during the summers of 1911, 1912 and 1913.

Madame Vuillard à l'hôtel des Ducs de Normandie is one of many portraits that Vuillard painted of his mother, Marie Justine Alexandrine Michaud, whom he called his muse.  Following the death of her husband in 1883, Madame Vuillard moved her corset-making shop to her home, where Vuillard lived with her until her death in 1928.  Mme Vuillard's corset atelier was the focus of the artist's household, a surrounding which influenced and infiltrated his work quite significantly.

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'  (E. Wynne-Easton, The Intimate Interiors of Edouard Vuillard (exhibition catalogue), Houston, 1990, p. 26).

The monumental scale and complexity of Madame Vuillard à l'hôtel des Ducs de Normandie distinguishes it from other portraits by Vuillard.  The artist has depicted his mother sewing, a pastime that was associated in Vuillard's mind with her professional as well as domestic role.  In many portraits, Vuillard condenses the physical attributes of his sitters to gestured brushstrokes that give an idea of the sitter's identity.  In contrast, the sensitivity with which Vuillard has depicted his mother is indeed touching.  Her cheeks are full and colourful, her persona dignified.  Mme Vuillard's gaze is punctuated by her adjusting her delicꦗate spectacles.  Of particular interest is the fact that the artist has not confined his sitter to the confines of dark enclosed space.  On the contrary, the large window allows the viewer to see not only the sitter, but to look past her and appreciate the play of light on the rooftops in the background.  Highly detailed in execution, this portrait is a poignant🍨 tribute to the artist's consummate supporter and muse.

COMP: 429D08009_COMP
Fඣig. 1,  Photograph of the artist's mother in 1906, Rue de la Tour