Art Review - "Le déjeuner en famille" - Edouard Vuillard, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France

For today's #MuseumTourTuesday, I'd like to share a piece by Edouard Vuillard from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France. Even though the piece is 121 years old, it has a modern sensibility that makes it feel as if it were painted very recently.

"Le déjeuner en famille" "Family Lunch" • Edouard Vuillard • 1899 

• Oil on Cardboard • 58.2 x 91.8 cm

Vuillard employs a combination of overlapping patterns that appear very similar to modern painters' practice of incorporating various wallpaper samples throughout their work, although in this case, each one is purely paint.

Even with all of these competing textures, Vuillard still carefully controls the values in order to lead us to the three figures portrayed in the painting. The magenta and white table cloth acts as a center axis that points directly at the figures.

The textures add a sense of distance between the figures, isolating each from the other, even in the context of the lunch table, giving us a sense of the family tension.

"Le déjeuner en famille" "Family Lunch" Detail • Edouard Vuillard • 1899 

• Oil on Cardboard • 58.2 x 91.8 cm

Vuillard's brother-in-law fades into the textures surrounding him. He is completely detached from the rest of the family, only interested in the newspaper.

"Le déjeuner en famille" "Family Lunch" Detail • Edouard Vuillard • 1899 

• Oil on Cardboard • 58.2 x 91.8 cm

The artist's mother, while connected to her daughter through the direction of her gaze, is minimized. She's an influence in the family, as she separates the couple, but she is of lesser importance. She is even dwarfed by the frame of the painting above her, making her feel even smaller.

"Le déjeuner en famille" "Family Lunch" Detail • Edouard Vuillard • 1899 

• Oil on Cardboard • 58.2 x 91.8 cm

Vuillard's sister and her child are the true focus of the painting. They share the only intimate connection in the painting. She stands out not only through the strong value changes in this area of the piece, but also the rich dominating red of her dress.

Painting photos by Saunders Fine Arts.

© Patrick and Kimberly Saunders, Patrick Saunders Fine Arts, 2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s authors/owners is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Patrick Saunders for painted works, or to Kimberly Saunders for photographs and/or videos, with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.