The Game of Checkers

Ambroise Vollard (1865–1939), a dealer in Impressionist paintings, was also an important print publisher. In 1895 he commissioned his first portfolio from Pierre Bonnard: 12 color lithographs called <em>Some Aspects of Paris Life </em>(one of them is shown nearby). This was followed by many other albums of prints, including Vuillard's <em>Landscapes and Interiors</em>. Bonnard and Vuillard were members of a group of artists called the Nabis—the Hebrew word for "prophet"—which evokes both their playful mysticism and their determination to develop a new artistic language based on the notion that form and color could be used expressively. The Nabis favored subjects of the modern city and middle-class family life depicted in a decorative and even whimsical manner. Vuillard's intimate scenes of comfortable domesticity are wonderful examples of the beautiful color lithography produced in the 1890s.