Garden Side. From Monet to Bonnard: Édouard Vuillard and the Gardens

This little Nabis icon, who remained unknown to the public for a long time, transformed the
alignments of the trees in the Jardin des Tuileries into a surreal garden. It perfectly sums up all Vuillard's boldness: the collage of layers, without depth of field; the synthesized volumes, where modeling and shadows have been willingly abandoned in favor of unified surfaces; the blend of colors.

The foliage receives a shower of pink and vermilion tones.

The ground is a gentle yet bold pink, marked by movements of ocher yellow.

The rhythm of the vertical tree trunks and horizontal bands formed by the yellow path and the two levels of leafy greenery create an orthonormal weave around the little girl, whose deep blue dress further accentuates the arching shape of the circle.

The four-color lithography “Jardin des Tuileries” was commissioned by the merchant Ambroise Vollard for his “Album des Peintre-graveurs”, which was published in 1896. With his colorist skills, Vuillard played with juxtapositioning or superposing colors: the lawn was created by combining yellow and blue stone. Following the example of the Japanese printing masters, which he used as a reference, Vuillard uses the white of the paper, whose flat widths structure the composition.

The alternating immaculate pathways and lawns create geometric forms that are enlivened by a group of pigeons in the foreground.

This print has bright highlights of yellow and blue pastel, demonstrating Vuillard's color studies. These highlights are particularly noticeable on the generously-sized checked coat of the central figure, as well as in the clothing of the group of women and little girls seen on the composition's right-hand side.

The very same hillsides as those which can also be found in Roussel's work, as demonstrated in this large pastel piece, which effuses classic serenity, and in which the blooming garden becomes an ode to the eternal regeneration of life.

Some nymph and faun figures, roughly sketched, unite the contemporary Seine Valley and the garden in L’Étang-la-Ville with the artist's mythological dreams.

This large study is the sketch for one of the 13 panels created by Vuillard on this occasion. Here, the painter glosses over details.

Vuillard particularly wanted to ensure that his composition retained the frame formed by the foliage of the trees …

… as well as the panoramic view of the meadow in the background.

The bird's eye view gives free reign to the clusters of green and the patches of yellow sun on the ground. The result creates the impression of total immersion in nature.

Vuillard chose Clayes' grounds as the setting for the decorated lintel that the French state commissioned from him in 1936, for the Théâtre de Chaillot's foyer, on the theme of Comedy.

In this version, which is a first sketch, the painter created a deep space, outlined by a border of sketched vegetation and farmyard animals. This garland, where we can see a donkey, demonstrates the scene's allegorical character, in the same way as tapestries.

Equally as important as the decoration, the figures in this little scene can be identified: Lucie Hessel takes the central position (white hair and cream skirt); her niece, Berthe Keller, can be seen in the red skirt; and her adopted daughter, Lulu (striped dress) also joins the group.