House on the Left 1900

Édouard Vuillard likely painted ‘House on the Left’ with oil on canvas, a conventional pairing for the time, but notice how he coaxes a tactile quality from them. Rather than obscuring the evidence of his hand, Vuillard embraced the material reality of paint. The visible brushstrokes build up a richly textured surface, mirroring the rough stonework and weathered rooftops he depicts. It is a painting about painting. He uses short, broken strokes to capture the play of light across the scene. This technique, reminiscent of Impressionism, serves a deeper purpose here. Vuillard was part of the Nabis, a group of artists interested in the decorative potential of painting. They wanted their work to be part of everyday life. The apparent simplicity of the scene, the careful arrangement of colours and textures elevate the ordinary to the extraordinary. Vuillard reminds us that even the most humble materials can yield profound aesthetic experiences, blurring the boundaries between fine art and the stuff of everyday life.