Place Vintimille by Edouard Vuillard

Place Vintimille by Edouard Vuillard
Edouard Vuillard, Place Vintimille, 1911, five-panel screen, distemper on paper laid down on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Enid A. Haupt 1998.47.1

Tenture de la Dame a la Li Corne:
Anonymous, Tenture de la Dame à Licorne: "la Vue," fifteenth century, tapestry of wool and silk, Musée du Moyen-Age-Cluny, Paris, © Réunion des Musées Nationaux

Vuillard was well aware that his large decorative pieces served a different purpose than his paintings. A small work was intended as a focal point in a room. His large works, on the other hand, would be backdrops for people and furniture, much like theater sets or a tapestry. Vuillard explained: "For a decoration for an apartment, a subject that's objectively too precise could easily become unbearable. One would grow less quickly tired of a textile, of designs that don't have too much...precision."