Interieur aux tentures roses II (Interior with Pink Wallpaper II) from Paysages et Interieurs

Paris, 1899. Colour lithograph on China paper from the edition of 100, published by Ambroise Vollard and printed by Auguste Clot, matted within gold leaf frame. Image: 13 3/8 x 10 3/4 inches. Sheet: 15 1/4 x 12 1/8 inches. A delicate composition from Vuillard's Paysages et Intérieurs, a landmark in the history of modern printmaking.

Édouard Vuillard, a founding member of the Nabis, brought to printmaking the same layered intimacy and pattern-saturated surfaces that define his paintings. Intérieur aux tentures roses II is one of the most evocative prints from his 1899 Paysages et Intérieurs series, an ambitious suite of twelve lithographs exploring (truncated) the quiet poetry of domestic life and cloistered interiors. Printed in delicate hues on fine China paper by master printer Auguste Clot and published by the visionary Ambroise Vollard, the series exemplifies the close collaboration between artist, printer, and publisher during the golden age of the colour lithograph in fin-de-siècle Paris. In this work, Vuillard transforms a mundane interior into a richly textured visual tapestry. Wallpaper, upholstery, and drapery dissolve into abstract pattern, collapsing figure and ground into a unified decorative field. Vuillard's soft crayon lines, expressive textures, and muted color palette invite slow looking: the subject, a woman seated in a domestic space, is partially obscured, enhancing the sense of introspection and interiority that pervades his finest work. This concealment is not accidental but rather a deliberate aesthetic strategy, one that heightens the mood of reverie and dissolves narrative in favor of atmosphere. Vuillard's exploration of lithography in this series was formally radical. His use of rubbing techniques, varied line weights, and textural overlays broke new ground for the medium, establishing lithography not merely as a reproductive tool but as a platform for artistic invention.

Roger-Marx, L'Oeuvre grave de Vuillard 37. (Inventory #: 40564)