.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Edouard Vuillard first met Gaston and Jos Hessel, who ran Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, while visiting Félix Vallotton near Lausanne in 1900. A strong friendship quickly formed between Vuillard and the Hessel brothers, who began to show the artist's work on a regular basis. Vuillard became especially close to Jos's wife Lucy. He was a frequent guest at the Hessel's Paris apartment on the rue de Rivoli, and accompanied Lucy during summer holidays in Brittany or Normandy, and to her country homes on the outskirts of Paris. During the final years of his life, Vuillard had full access to the Hessels' country home, the Château des Clayes, near Versailles. The Château, with its bucolic setting, was a frequent source of inspiration for the artist's later works.
There has been much speculation regarding the nature of Vuillard's relationship with Lucy Hessel. Their friendship, which spanned nearly forty years, was widely suspected to have been a secret amorous affair (see note to lot 34). According to Antoine Salomon and Guy Cogeval the present work was painted by Vuillard after he became anxious at having witnessed Lucy distraught and tormented. The artist wrote in his journal: "[S]aturday 8 [,] Lucy distraught, goes [for comfort?] to Jos, speechless tragic expression on her face, go down to my room to escape the torment [,] start painting as best I can [some] geraniums [on the edge of a table [,] initially had in mind a rhythmic décor, once again turns into [a] small painting; weather clouds over" (quoted in A. Salomon and G. Cogeval, op. cit., p. 1580).
Painted in the artist's yellow room at Les Clayes, this informal yet masterly composition depicts a corner of the artist's world in all its many details. Several works in progress are seen pinned up on the wall: Les enfants sur un banc devant le château (Salomon and Cogeval, no. XII-301), Le petit salon des Clayes avec Lucy et Lulu (no. XII-196) and Dahlias sur le cheminée de la chamber jaune (no. XII-271). A writing desk covered with the clutter of every day life has been positioned in front of the fireplace, and the mirror above the mantle reflects a window outside of the composition.
This interior as still-life is also, in effect, a self-portrait. While the artist is absent from this scene, we sense his presence everywhere in it, in his paintings on the wall, in the objects he handles from day to day, and perhaps most movingly, in the small geranium plant, which Lucy would have given Vuillard, and serves here as a poignant reminder of her presence in his life.
There has been much speculation regarding the nature of Vuillard's relationship with Lucy Hessel. Their friendship, which spanned nearly forty years, was widely suspected to have been a secret amorous affair (see note to lot 34). According to Antoine Salomon and Guy Cogeval the present work was painted by Vuillard after he became anxious at having witnessed Lucy distraught and tormented. The artist wrote in his journal: "[S]aturday 8 [,] Lucy distraught, goes [for comfort?] to Jos, speechless tragic expression on her face, go down to my room to escape the torment [,] start painting as best I can [some] geraniums [on the edge of a table [,] initially had in mind a rhythmic décor, once again turns into [a] small painting; weather clouds over" (quoted in A. Salomon and G. Cogeval, op. cit., p. 1580).
Painted in the artist's yellow room at Les Clayes, this informal yet masterly composition depicts a corner of the artist's world in all its many details. Several works in progress are seen pinned up on the wall: Les enfants sur un banc devant le château (Salomon and Cogeval, no. XII-301), Le petit salon des Clayes avec Lucy et Lulu (no. XII-196) and Dahlias sur le cheminée de la chamber jaune (no. XII-271). A writing desk covered with the clutter of every day life has been positioned in front of the fireplace, and the mirror above the mantle reflects a window outside of the composition.
This interior as still-life is also, in effect, a self-portrait. While the artist is absent from this scene, we sense his presence everywhere in it, in his paintings on the wall, in the objects he handles from day to day, and perhaps most movingly, in the small geranium plant, which Lucy would have given Vuillard, and serves here as a poignant reminder of her presence in his life.