Child Wearing a Red Scarf

c. 1891

Edouard Vuillard

Artist, French, 1868 - 1940

A child and man stand facing away from us in this vertical painting. The scene is painted with visible dabs, stipples, and strokes of paint, and many details, especially in the distance, are indistinct. A young girl is to the left, a blue band holding back her long brown hair. Despite the title of this painting, Child Wearing a Red Scarf, she wears a bulky, pumpkin-orange scarf around her neck over an ankle-length dress dotted with red. Streaks of brown suggest shoes under the lower hem. The person to our right wears dark trousers, a brown, long-sleeved shirt, and olive-green shoes outlined with black. This person’s right leg and head above the shoulders are cropped by the composition. A peach area suggests that the girl holds the hand or something by the man’s pants pocket but this area is difficult to read. The ground is ecru white, and loosely painted forms along the top of the composition suggest people standing and the room in the distance. The artist signed to top right corner, “E Vuillard.”

Media Options

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On View

East Building Ground Level, Gallery 103-C

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on cardboard

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 29.2 × 17.5 cm (11 1/2 × 6 7/8 in.)
    overall (support and wooden collar): 30.2 × 18.4 cm (11 7/8 × 7 1/4 in.)
    framed: 48.9 × 37.15 × 10.8 cm (19 1/4 × 14 5/8 × 4 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1970.17.90

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Vuillard atelier; Capt. Edward H. Molyneux [1891-1974], Paris, France, by 1952;[1] sold 15 August 1955 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York;[2] bequest 1970 to NGA.
[1]Exhibited with Molyneux collection in 1952. See also letter dated 22 September 1999 from Guy Cogeval, in NGA curatorial files. [2]Date of purchase of Molyneux collection according to the Ailsa Mellon Bruce notebook now in NGA archives, copy in NGA curatorial records.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1952

  • French Paintings from the Molyneux Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1952, unnumbered checklist.

1958

  • Paintings from the Collection of Mrs. Mellon Bruce, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, 1958, no. 43

1961

  • French Paintings of the Nineteenth Century from the Collection of Mrs. Mellon Bruce, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1961, no. 69, repro

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 171, repro

1978

  • Small French Paintings from the Bequest of Ailsa Mellon Bruce, NAtional Gallery of Art, 1978, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

1989

  • Impressionisti della National Gallery of Art di Washington, Ala Napoleonica e Museo Correr, Venice; Palazzo Reale, Milan, 1989, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

1990

  • Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 71, repro.

2003

  • Edouard Vuillard, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2003-2004, no. 32, repro., as Girl Wearing an Orange Shawl.

2011

  • Snapshot: Painters and Photography, Bonnard to Vuillard, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; Indianapolis Museum of Art, 2011-2012, unnumbered catalogue entry (no repro.).

2013

  • Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016, pl. 58.

2021

  • Private Lives: Home and Family in the Art of the Nabis, 1889 -1900 (Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard, Maurice Denis, Félix Vallotton), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland; Portland Art Museum, Portland, 2021 - 2022, no. 148, repro.

2022

  • Enfances rêvées - Bonnard, les Nabis et l'enfance [Dreamed Childhood - Bonnard, The Nabis, and Childhood], Musée Bonnard, Le Cannet, 2022, unnumbered catalogue, no. 11, repro.

Bibliography

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 370, repro.

1978

  • Small French Paintings from the Bequest of Ailsa Mellon Bruce. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978: 92, repro. (continuing exhibition beginning in 1978).

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 583, no. 894, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 431, repro.

1990

  • Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum. Exh. cat. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990: no. 71, repro.

1991

  • Coman, Florence E. Joie de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 31, repro.

2003

  • Salomon, Antoine, and Guy Cogeval. Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels. 3 vols. Milan and Paris, 2003: 1:no. V-62, repro., as Little Girl in an Orange Shawl.

Inscriptions

upper right with atelier stamp: E Vuillard

Wikidata ID

Q20190247

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