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Lot Essay
In the early 1890s, French theatre experienced a stylistic revolution that was in no small part impacted by a dissident group of artists that included Edouard Vuillard, Maurice Denis, Paul Sérusier, Ker-Xavier Roussel and Pierre Bonnard, known as the Nabis. Inspired by the work of Paul Gauguin and heavily influenced by Japanese prints, these artists employed a decorative style using flat patches of color with bold contour--a style that lent itself well to theatrical stage settings. Vuillard's first theatrical collaboration was with the director Aurélien Lugné-Poe, in 1891, on Maeterlinck's L'Intruse. He would continue throughout the 1890s to collaborate on stage sets, direction and lighting, as well as design lithographic playbill covers, for the avant-garde theatre. John Russell has written:
He adored the theatre, he mixed a great deal with theatre people, he had theatre people for his first patrons, and he could not look at even the most humdrum scene without giving it, in his mind, a trial run for the stage. He was witty, and observant, and he took nothing for granted; it came quite naturally to him to set down his experience of life on the heightened and economical way which is essential to success in the theatre (in Edouard Vuillard, exh. cat., The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1971, p. 19).
The present work depicts a character from the brassy and witty operetta by Bouderon and Audran, Miss Helyett, which opened at the Bouffes Parisiens in 1890. The story follows the tribulations of a clergyman's daughter, who infused with her father's Puritanism, struggles against the temptations and harsh realities of modern life, often consulting the sacred pouch dangling from her belt that contained a volume of paternal exhortations. This conflicted character inspired Vuillard, who transformed her costume and strappy belt into a swirling decoration in vibrant hues and flat forms.
The dancing figure melodically twists into an S-shaped curve, her arms outstretched, head tilted back, knees kicking up under her purple dress, with her belt and pouch swinging to the rhythm. Considered one of his most audacious works from the period, in the present lot Vuillard employed dazzling and dense pastels that literally glow from the sheet. The pure, incandescent yellow background is further heightened by the fuchsia footlights that form a wave at the lower edge of the sheet. Jane Avril, the infamous cabaret performer of the Moulin Rouge who "danced like a delirious orchid," also inspired Vuillard, who similarly captured her in pastel comically cavorting against a garish monochromatic background, her lanky body twisted into a slithery helix (fig. 4). John Russell described these theatre scenes as "having been dashed off as if in the front row of the stalls. They have an uninhibited linear energy, combined with an element of ruthless intuition about how theatre people carry on, which makes them at once startling and irresistibly droll" (ibid., p. 29).
The influence of Japanese prints (figs. 2 and 3) is apparent in the sinuous outlines, decorative patterning, exaggerated gestures and element of caricature in the present work. Ursula Perucchi-Petri explains: "Woodcuts of Japanese women mostly show clothed figures. Their movements are revealed chiefly by the folds of their attire. Their S-shaped lines and elaborate postures impart a charming momentum and an expressive contour to the garment, which also serves to convey the emotions of the idealized woman" (in A. Salomon and G. Cogeval, op. cit., p. 165). Biana Duhamel dans le rôle de "Miss Helyett" is the ultimate culmination of Vuillard's fascination with theatre, decoration and Japonisme in the 1890s.
(fig. 1) The present lot
(fig. 2) Kitao Masayoshi, from the sketchbook Ryakuja shiki, 1795. Private collection (formerly in the collection of Edouard Vuillard).
(fig. 3) Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Japanese woodcut. Private collection (formerly in the collection of Maurice Denis).
(fig. 4) Edouard Vuillard, Jane Avril à l'ombrelle, circa 1891-1892. Private collection.
He adored the theatre, he mixed a great deal with theatre people, he had theatre people for his first patrons, and he could not look at even the most humdrum scene without giving it, in his mind, a trial run for the stage. He was witty, and observant, and he took nothing for granted; it came quite naturally to him to set down his experience of life on the heightened and economical way which is essential to success in the theatre (in Edouard Vuillard, exh. cat., The Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1971, p. 19).
The present work depicts a character from the brassy and witty operetta by Bouderon and Audran, Miss Helyett, which opened at the Bouffes Parisiens in 1890. The story follows the tribulations of a clergyman's daughter, who infused with her father's Puritanism, struggles against the temptations and harsh realities of modern life, often consulting the sacred pouch dangling from her belt that contained a volume of paternal exhortations. This conflicted character inspired Vuillard, who transformed her costume and strappy belt into a swirling decoration in vibrant hues and flat forms.
The dancing figure melodically twists into an S-shaped curve, her arms outstretched, head tilted back, knees kicking up under her purple dress, with her belt and pouch swinging to the rhythm. Considered one of his most audacious works from the period, in the present lot Vuillard employed dazzling and dense pastels that literally glow from the sheet. The pure, incandescent yellow background is further heightened by the fuchsia footlights that form a wave at the lower edge of the sheet. Jane Avril, the infamous cabaret performer of the Moulin Rouge who "danced like a delirious orchid," also inspired Vuillard, who similarly captured her in pastel comically cavorting against a garish monochromatic background, her lanky body twisted into a slithery helix (fig. 4). John Russell described these theatre scenes as "having been dashed off as if in the front row of the stalls. They have an uninhibited linear energy, combined with an element of ruthless intuition about how theatre people carry on, which makes them at once startling and irresistibly droll" (ibid., p. 29).
The influence of Japanese prints (figs. 2 and 3) is apparent in the sinuous outlines, decorative patterning, exaggerated gestures and element of caricature in the present work. Ursula Perucchi-Petri explains: "Woodcuts of Japanese women mostly show clothed figures. Their movements are revealed chiefly by the folds of their attire. Their S-shaped lines and elaborate postures impart a charming momentum and an expressive contour to the garment, which also serves to convey the emotions of the idealized woman" (in A. Salomon and G. Cogeval, op. cit., p. 165). Biana Duhamel dans le rôle de "Miss Helyett" is the ultimate culmination of Vuillard's fascination with theatre, decoration and Japonisme in the 1890s.
(fig. 1) The present lot
(fig. 2) Kitao Masayoshi, from the sketchbook Ryakuja shiki, 1795. Private collection (formerly in the collection of Edouard Vuillard).
(fig. 3) Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Japanese woodcut. Private collection (formerly in the collection of Maurice Denis).
(fig. 4) Edouard Vuillard, Jane Avril à l'ombrelle, circa 1891-1892. Private collection.