The Vestibule at Saint Jacut de la mer 1909

Édouard Vuillard made this painting, The Vestibule at Saint Jacut de la mer, with oil on cardboard. The colors are muted, almost like a memory, and the marks are soft and blended, which makes me think about how art is really about feeling more than seeing. Check out the surface of the floor. It's made up of these short, choppy strokes, almost like Vuillard was scrubbing the paint into the cardboard. This way of applying paint reminds me of the domestic, quiet interiors he often painted. I imagine him working slowly, building up the image layer by layer. Vuillard reminds me of Bonnard; they were both part of the same group of artists, the Nabis, and shared an interest in intimate, domestic scenes. But where Bonnard’s paintings are often filled with light and color, Vuillard’s are more subdued, more introspective. You could almost say that in his paintings, as in life, ambiguity isn't a weakness, it's just the way things are.