Luncheon 1899

Édouard Vuillard made this oil painting, Luncheon, sometime in the early 20th century. The domestic scene offers an intimate glimpse into the rituals of family life within the French bourgeois. Vuillard, closely associated with the Nabis, aimed to elevate the decorative arts. The flattening of perspective and emphasis on surface patterns challenges traditional academic painting. Look at the patterned fabrics and wallpaper. These obsessions reflect a broader cultural interest in interior design and the aesthetics of everyday life. Vuillard’s work comments on the changing social roles within the home. He delicately hints at the complex dynamics of caregiving. By examining the formal elements of the painting through archival sources like domestic advice manuals and advertisements, we can reconstruct the unspoken rules and expectations that shaped the domestic sphere. Vuillard's paintings encourage us to reflect on the social construction of intimacy.