Under the Trees (from "The Public Gardens")

1894

Édouard Vuillard

(French, 1868–1940)

Culture

France, 19th century

Medium

distemper on fabric

Measurements

Framed: 229.9 x 113 x 11.4 cm (90 1/2 x 44 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.); Unframed: 214.2 x 96.3 cm (84 5/16 x 37 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Hanna Fund 1953.212

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Location

223 20th Century Avant-Garde

Did You Know?

Vuillard's social circle included actors and directors. He often contributed to their theatrical pursuits by designing costumes, programs, and set pieces. In this panel from a nine-part series, a patterned landscape recalls scenery for the stage.

Description

This painting is from a nine-panel decorative series showing children playing in two of Paris’s most spacious parks: the Tuileries Gardens and the Bois de Boulogne. It depicts a game of hide-and-seek in which a girl conceals herself behind a tree. The stillness of the women resting on green chairs at the right is countered by children running at the left. Rather than a realistic rendering of the subject, Édouard Vuillard arranged the composition in bands of colorful, decorative patterns so that the painting seems like a tapestry.