Exhibition honors work of Vuillard

NEW YORK - Reuters

A new exhibition, the first major show in New York of works by Edouard Vuillard for more than 20 years, reveals the life of the French artist and reappraises the significance of his 20th century work.

“Edouard Vuillard, A Painter and his Muses, 1890-1940,” which opens at The Jewish Museum on May 4 and runs through September 23, includes 50 key paintings, as well as prints, photographs and documents. A quarter of the paintings have never been exhibited publicly in America before.

Vuillard’s artistic career began in La Belle Epoque from 1890 to the end of World War One, and ended with the German occupation of France. His focus was the acute observation of society.

“This is one of those shows that has points of interest for a wide audience. One really can’t understand France in the first half of the 20th century without having some knowledge of Vuillard’s portraiture,” said Stephen Brown, assistant curator at The Jewish Museum.