The Florist 

Édouard Vuillard made this painting of a florist, with oil on cardboard, at an unknown date. Vuillard was associated with the Nabis, a group of Post-Impressionist avant-garde artists who were interested in abstraction and symbolism. They questioned the role of academic art institutions. As such, this image is not about accurately representing what the florist sees. Rather, the florist is made secondary to an exploration of the formal qualities of painting. The artist's interest seems to be in flattening the picture plane and composing an arrangement of shapes, colors, and textures. Vuillard lived and worked in France at a time of rapid social change and questioning of traditional values. To understand the artistic choices visible here, we can research the work of the Nabis, and the broader social and intellectual context in which they were working. Only then can we start to appreciate the visual codes and cultural references of this painting.