This week I was given a frame that looked just the right size for a reproduction of a Vuillard work I’ve been wanting to paint for years. The stars aligned and I sat down to start work on “ Woman in Profile Wearing a Green Hat”. It was painted by French artist Jean-Édouard Vuillard circa 1890-1891 and exhibited at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
The oil on cardboard work is characteristic of his Nabis-period style, which focused on domestic interiors and the weaving of figures into their environment.
The work is a quintessential example of Impressionism, an art movement that emerged as a reaction against the naturalistic depiction of light and color.
Vuillard’s graphic style and unlikely palette makes this a really striking & memorable work for me.
I learn loads about an artist when I paint what they painted. I’ve loved this piece for a long time and yet if you asked me if he’d used an alternative base colour under the pink background I could not have answered that he used a mid blue which he allowed to remain as a fairly consistent outline which plays a big part in the style of this painting. Personally, I’d never think to do this but it gives such an unusual result that it’s definitely something I’ll use in my own work sometime.
I also love the simplicity of form and how regardless of this it perfectly conveys a characterful shape, I can almost imagine the subject is tetchy & tired and that it’s a cold day despite the pink. I find it a really evocative work.
The strokes have a quickness to them perhaps a little like our subject moves. The edges are not perfect and it’s a tight little composition, no part of the small canvas is left un-daubed with thick oily paint conveying an air of an ordinary event with a tinge of mystery. We have no idea who she is and we really only see a small part of her slightly haunted visage so the rest of her story we can only guess at but for some reason the composition seems interesting and purposeful. Our lady is glimpsing at us and we stare back at the unusual colours flowing through her hat and hair and her svelte silhouette. She seems distinguished from what we can tell, a well fitted plum coat with a plush fur collar. She has an air of aristocracy about her somehow suggested by just a few well-placed strokes: a long, distinguished nose, a shapely brow, beautifully arranged hair, elaborate hat & well fitting clothes are all suggested.
A truly mindful and expertly executed piece by this accomplished French master, Vuillard.
She now sits in my bedroom in her elaborate gilded frame reminding me of the beauty that can be created with paint and brush.
Of course I’d love the original but I’ll have to make do with my reproduction until I can afford it 🤪
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