The Yellow Curtain
c. 1893
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 34.7 x 38.7 cm (13 11/16 x 15 1/4 in.) framed: 52.7 x 58.4 x 7.3 cm (20 3/4 x 23 x 2 7/8 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CF
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection
Accession Number
1970.17.95
Art Historical Context
Edouard Vuillard's *The Yellow Curtain* (c. 1893), a compact oil on canvas measuring just 13⅝ x 15¼ inches, captures the intimate essence of everyday domestic life, a hallmark of the artist's early career. As a founding member of the Nabis group—a Post-Impressionist circle influenced by Paul Gauguin—Vuillard eschewed grand narratives for subtle, pattern-rich interiors. This small-scale painting, now in the National Gallery of Art's Aa Mellon Bruce Collection, viewers into a cozy, sunlit room where a vibrant yellow curtain dominates, its folds rendered with delicate brushwork that blends fabric...
About the Artist
Edouard Vuillard · 1868–1940
Jean-Édouard Vuillard was born on November 11, 1868, in Cuiseaux, Saône-et-Loire, France, to a retired naval captain father and seamstress mother, Marie Vuillard. After his father's early death in 1884, the family settled in Paris, where Vuillard attended the Lycée Condorcet, meeting future Nabis members like Ker-Xavier Roussel—later his brother-in-law—and Maurice Denis. He began formal training i...