Why Vuillard? He is a contemporary of Pierre Bonnard, one of my favorite artists. He is one of the Nabis, of whom I want to learn more. And what I have previously seen of Vuillard's work shows the use of an appealing color palette.
We arrive at the door to the exhibit, and I maneuver the stroller through the crowd like an expert, holding my niece in my arms to give her a closer look at the artwork. We stand in front of an engaging portrait of a child and father, viewed from behind and focusing on the father's holding his child's hand. I bring my niece's attention to the painting in ideas an 18-month-old can appreciate, "See the little girl? See her daddy holding her hand? Look at the blue sky and the gray mud. Doesn't the daddy look like he is in a hurry?" The guard smiles and comments, "Bringing her here for a little exposure to culture, eh?" I say yes and express my hope that her current good-natured mood will last through the entire exhibit. He says that I have picked a good artist to show her, since so much of his work is so bright.
And that is what I at once notice. There are many paintings of rooms and cozy domestic scenes, bringing alive a family dinner or meeting among friends, punctuated by bright orange spots that are revealed as lamps. There are paintings of rooms with large windows that bring the natural light into the rooms where people sit comfortably around dining room tables. There are paintings of rooms with bright mirrors in ornate frames where women sit and sew in companionable scenes.
