ÉDOUARD VUILLARD (FRENCH, 1868-1940)

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
ÉDOUARD VUILLARD (FRENCH, 1868-1940)
Annette et Denise Natanson à Loctudy
stamped with signature 'E Vuillard' (lower left)
pastel on paper
56.5 x 73 cm. (23 1/4 x 28 3/4 in.)
Executed in 1912

Dimensions: 56.5 x 73 cm. (23 1/4 x 28 3/4 in.)

Provenance
Alfred Athis Natanson
Denise Tabah (née Natanson)
Ruel-Malmaison
Sale; Phillips, New York, 13 May 1985, lot 36
With Galerie Spiess, Paris, 1986
With Waddington Galleries, London, 1987
Sale; Sotheby's, London, 5 December 1990, lot 330
Sale; Phillips, London, 4 December 1991, lot 5
With Galerie Hopkins-Thomas, Paris
Private Collection, United States
With Susan Seidel, Inc., 29 October 1998, where purchased by the present owner

Literature
Antoine Salomon, Guy Cogeval & Mathias Chivot, Vuillard: The Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels Vol. II, Skira Editore, Milan, 2003, cat.no.X-99, p.1011 (col.ill)

Jean-Édouard Vuillard was born in Cruiseax where he spent his early childhood. His early education was spent the Lycée Fontaine (now known as the Lycée Condorcet), where he received a scholarship to study rhetoric and art. Notably, Vuillard went on to become a prominent member of Les Nabis, an Avant Garde artistic group of young French artists who influenced the transition from Impressionism to abstract art. At the Lycée Fontaine, he met many future members of this group such as Maurice Denis, Ker-Xavier Roussel, and Pierre Véber.

Vuillard decided not to follow in the footsteps of his Father who pursued a career in the military, and instead attended the studio of Diogène Ulysse Napoléon Maillart. After persistent attempts Vuillard was accepted to enter the École des Beaux-Arts in 1887 where his artistic career began to flourish.

The present example shows Annette standing on the left side, with Denise seated opposite her.

We are grateful to Mathias Chivot at Archives Vuillard for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.