Devant Les Pavillons 1910 - 1911

Editor: We're looking at "Devant Les Pavillons" by Édouard Vuillard, created around 1910-1911. It seems to be rendered in pastels. It feels so intimate, like we're eavesdropping on a private moment. I'm curious, what stands out to you most about this work? Curator: The piece really captures Vuillard's interest in depicting domesticity and the leisured classes, but more specifically the growth of public social spaces, here pavilions, for example. You can see his engagement with intimism in how he positions us, the viewers, as these almost voyeuristic onlookers of women occupying the exterior patio of such space. The application of pastel is also key here. It gives the entire scene this feeling of being observed through a screen, if you will. What is gained and lost with that choice of medium? Editor: I think it softens the scene and makes it less defined. We are missing crisp detail and instead have to work to piece it together. Curator: Exactly. And what happens when we, as a public, engage in an activity that requires piecing information together? In some ways, we begin to co-produce its meaning. And Vuillard was working at a time when art's accessibility and public appeal was really being debated, and there was that move toward publicly funded institutions to support art and education. What do you think about that dynamic? Editor: That’s a fascinating point! So, the artist might be subtly engaging the viewer by requiring that they work to put things together, just like art institutions require a partnership between the viewer and the artwork to make meaning? Curator: Precisely! It's about prompting thought on whose experiences matter, who gets a seat at the table. Editor: Wow, I never thought about it that way! I had only thought of the intimacy of the home space being Vuillard’s primary focus. Curator: Art rarely is so limited in meaning. Remember, even in quiet interiors, social dynamics play out, and art serves as a kind of quiet witness to the change. Editor: Thank you. It’s great to have a different context for viewing this work!