The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Orchard

1897

Édouard Vuillard

(French, 1868–1940)
France, 19th century
oil on board
Unframed: 22.4 x 29.4 cm (8 13/16 x 11 9/16 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.120
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Fellow artist Maurice Denis noted in his journal that Vuillard paid little attention to color theory. In this painting, Vuillard used several colors that are next to each other on the color wheel such as orange, yellow, and green rather than pairing complementary colors.

Description

The organic strokes that comprise Vuillard’s trees contrast with the linear divisions of agricultural land. The imagery is reminiscent of a passage written by the artist’s muse, Misia Natanson: “Solemn and dreamy, Vuillard led me along the river, past high silver birch trees. . . . He slowly moved through the yellowed grass. . . . Our silhouettes were just shadows against a pale sky.”
  • by 1973–at least 2003
    (Galerie Paul Vallotton, Lausanne, Switzerland)
    (Galerie Kornfeld, Bern Switzerland, June 18, 2004, lot 150, sold to a private collector)
    (sold at Sotheby's, New York, NY, May 30, 2014, lot 11)
    2014
    (Galerie Berès, Paris, France, at the New York Art Fair, sold to Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley)
    2014–2020
    Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 This painting was included in the “Exposition à l'Occasion du 60e Anniversaire de sa Fondation,” Galerie Paul Vallotton, Lausanne, Switzerland, July 5 – September 8, 1973, cat. no. 15.The painting remained with the gallery until at least 2003. See: Antoine Salomon, Guy Cogeval, and Mathias Chivot, Vuillard, the Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels (Milan: Skira, 2003), vol. II, cat. no. VII-93, p. 587, ill.)
    2 According to the 2014 Sotheby’s sale catalogue. Sold as “Landscape at L’Etang-la-Ville,” painted circa 1900, 22.2 x 29.2 cm. 
    3 According to an invoice in the curatorial file. Sold as “Landscape at L’Etang la Ville (Le Verger),” ca. 1900, 22.2 x 29.2 cm. 
  • La Galerie Paul Vallotton: Exposition du 5 juillet au 8 septembre 1973 : a l'occasion du 60e anniversaire de sa fondation, 1913-1973. Lausanne: La Galerie, 1973. Reproduced: no. 15
    La Galerie Paul Vallotton a lʼhonneur de présenter du 22 juin au 2 september 1989, une exposition d'huiles, pastels, dessins et lithographies dʼÉdouard Vuillard (1868-1940). Lausanne: Galerie Paul Vallotton, 1989. Reproduced: no. 7
    La Galerie Paul Vallotton, Lausanne présente du 3 juillet au 2 septembre 1991 l'exposition: Mâitres suisses et français des XIXe et XXe siècles: huiles, aquarelles. Lausanne, 991. Reproduced: no. 89
    Salomon, Antoine, Guy Cogeval, and Mathias Chivot. Vuillard, the Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels. Milan, Italy: Skira, 2003. Reproduced: Vol. II, P. 587, no. VII-93
    Groom, Gloria. "Edouard Vuillard." In The Keithley Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art, edited by Heather Lemonedes Brown, 76-101. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 98-99; Mentioned: p. 273-274
  • Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
    Maîtres suisses et francais des XIXe et siècles. Galerie Paul Vallotton, Lausanne, Switzerland (1991).
    Édouard Vuillard. Galerie Paul Vallotton, Lausanne, Switzerland (1989).
    Exposition à l'occasion du 60e anniversaire de sa fondation. Galerie Paul Vallotton, Lausanne, Switzerland (1973).
  • {{cite web|title=Orchard|url=false|author=Édouard Vuillard|year=1897|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.120