Place Vintimille
1911
Painter, French, 1868 - 1940

On this decorative screen, Edouard Vuillard painted the Place Vintimille (now the Place Adolphe-Max), as seen from his fifth-floor apartment. Vuillard was an avid photographer, and he took snapshots from his window to use as reference for these panels.
The sweeping curve of the sidewalk, which unifies the five panels, is dotted with small scenes of everyday life. Vuillard captures the bustling activity of a bright spring day in the city. While this subject is typically Parisian, the work reflects Vuillard’s fascination with Japanese art. Its seemingly casual arrangement of forms and cropped composition recalls Japanese woodblock prints.

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 80
Artwork overview
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Medium
five-panel screen, distemper on paper laid down on canvas
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Credit Line
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Dimensions
overall (each of five panels): 230 x 60 cm (90 9/16 x 23 5/8 in.)
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Accession
1998.47.1-5
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Commissioned 1911 by Marguerite Chapin [later Princess of Bassiano, born c. 1885], until at least 1924.[1] Albert Sancholle Henraux [1891-1953], Paris, possibly by 1938 and until at least 1945.[2] Mrs. Enid Annenberg Haupt [1906-2005], New York, by 1973;[3] gift 1998 to NGA.
[1] Lent by the Princess to 1924 exhibition in Paris.
[2] Lent to 1938 exhibition in Paris by "M. A.S.H." Cited in Claude Roger Marx, Vuillard et son temps, Paris, 1945, as in Henraux collection.
[3] See memo regarding Haupt collection dated 14 May 1973, in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1912
Edouard Vuillard, Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1912, no. 29.
1924
Premier Exposition de Collectionneurs, au profit de la Société des Amis du Luxembourg, L'Hôtel de la Curiosité et des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1924, no. 44.
1938
Exposition E. Vuillard, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 1938, no. 135.
2000
Art for the Nation: Collecting for a New Century, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2000-2001, unnumbered catalogue, repro.
2001
Beyond the Easel: Decorative Painting by Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, and Roussel, 1890-1930, Art Institute of Chicago; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001, no. 80, 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. 271, repro., as Five-Panel Screen for Miss Marguerite Chapin: Place Vintimille.
2011
Snapshot: Painters and Photography, Bonnard to Vuillard, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., Indianapolis Museum, 2011-2012, not in catalogue (shown only in Washington).
Bibliography
1988
Thomson, Belinda. Vuillard. Oxford, 1988: 114, pl. 71.
1993
Groom, Gloria. Edouard Vuillard: Painter-Decorator. Patrons and Projects, 1892-1912. New Haven and London, 1993: 172-177, 179, 196-197, pl. 282.
2003
Salomon, Antoine, and Guy Cogeval. Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels. 3 vols. Milan and Paris, 2003: 2:no. IX-165, repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 400-401, no. 331, color repro.
Inscriptions
lower right, far right panel: E. Vuillard
Wikidata ID
Q20191593