Édouard VUILLARD (1868 - 1940) - Lot 131

Lot n° 131
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Estimation :
200000 - 300000 EUR
Édouard VUILLARD (1868 - 1940) - Lot 131
Édouard VUILLARD (1868 - 1940) Performance of a play by Molière in the Salle des Cariatides at the Louvre, 1922 Pastel on bistre paper mounted on canvas. Signature stamp lower right (Lugt. 2497a). 63.6 x 100.3 cm Provenance : - Ker-Xavier Roussel Collection. Inherited directly from Édouard Vuillard, who kept the pastel in his studio until the end of his life. - Collection Jacques Roussel. - Collection Jacques Dubourg, Paris. - Sale Me Blache, Hôtel Rameau, Versailles, December 4, 1977, no. 131. - Sotheby's sale, London, July 1 1981, no. 368, reproduced. - Phillips sale, New York, May 13 1985, n°31, reproduced. - Christie's sale, New York, November 10, 2000, n° 436, reproduced. - Private collection. Exhibitions : - Vuillard, Galerie d'Art Latin, Stockholm, 1948, no. 19. - Pastels du 16e au 21e siècle, Liotard, Degas, Klee, Scully..., Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, February 2 - May 21, 2018, Catalogue, n°72, reproduced p. 111. Bibliography: - A. Chastel, Édouard Vuillard, Paris, Floury, 1946, p.106, reproduced p.107. - A. Salomon and G. Cogeval, Édouard Vuillard, catalog critique des peintures et pastels, Wildenstein Institute, n°XI-170, reproduced p. 1381. After the First World War, Édouard Vuillard was commissioned by the Swiss industrialist Camille Bauer to paint decorative panels for his house in Basel. In three successive waves, from 1920 to 1922, he painted "six moments in the life of the Louvre", when the doors of the museum had just reopened in January 1920. The artist immersed himself in the museum's collections and haunted the palace's halls, spending long half-days there. In addition to his commission, he took the opportunity to produce a series of ten pastels and paintings entitled Au Louvre, following his wanderings through the museum. Entitled Soirée théâtrale au Louvre, our pastel shows the performance of a play by Molière in the Salle des Cariatides on January 18, 1922, in honor of the tercentenary of Molière's birth. The Salle des Cariatides, designed by Jean Lescot, is one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in the Louvre. It owes its name to the four caryatids sculpted by Jean Goujon around 1550, which support the musicians' gallery. Designed as a ceremonial room, it was used as a ballroom in the 17th century. It was here that Molière first performed before Louis XIV, with Le Dépit amoureux, followed by L'Étourdi and Les Précieuses ridicules.
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