The Fireplace
- Artist
- Édouard Vuillard, French, 1868–1940
- Date
- 1901
- Material
- Oil on paper mounted on canvas
- made in
- Paris, Île-de-France region, Western Europe, France, Europe
- Classification
- Paintings
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 217
- Dimensions
- 18 3/16 x 24 1/2 in. (46.2 x 62.2 cm)
framed: 27 7/8 x 33 1/2 in. (70.8 x 85.1 cm) - Credit Line
- Funds given by Mr. and Mrs. John E. Simon
- Rights
- © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY / ADAGP, Paris
- Object Number
- 177:1955
NOTES
Edouard Vuillard was a prominent member of the 1890s avant-garde group The Nabis, (a Hebrew word meaning “prophet”), who acquired notoriety for their highly decorative, semi-abstract compositions. Vuillard favored representations of bourgeois interiors, often of his family home. Here he represents his mother seated in her armchair in the left foreground with her legs stretched toward the heat emanating from the fire.
Provenance
Jacques Roussel (b.1901), Paris, France, acquired from the artist [1]
by 1953 - 1955
Sam Salz (1894–1981), New York, NY, USA [2]
1955 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Sam Salz, Inc. [3]
Notes:
[1] According to a letter from Mrs. John Simon, who funded the sale of the painting to the Museum, the painting was formerly in the collection of Jacques Roussel, family of Vuillard [letter dated June 30, 1956, SLAM document files]. Jacques Roussel was Vuillard's nephew. He was the son of Vuillard's sister Marie, who married Vuillard's friend the artist Ker-Xavier Roussel. The painting presumably passed by descent to Jacques Roussel, who owned other paintings by Vuillard. Sam Salz was Vuillard's leading American dealer in the 1930s and after Vuillard's death [Salomon, Antoine and Cogeval, Guy. "Vuillard - The Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels." New York: Rizzoli International, 2003, cat. no. VII-186, p. 1542].
The catalogue raisonné of the artist as well as the Vuillard Archives, however, indicate that the painting passed directly from the artist's studio to Sam Salz [email dated February 24, 2005 from Mathias Chivot, Archives Vuillard, Paris, SLAM document files].
[2] Sam Salz left his native Austria in 1919 for Paris, where he soon became a part of the local art dealing community. He worked with renowned art dealer Ambroise Vollard, and also bought directly from artists including Derain, Vlaminck, Vuillard and Bonnard. In 1939 Salz moved to New York, where he continued to sell pictures to an elite clientele [National Gallery of Art, provenance website, www.nga.gov]. Salz was well acquainted with Vuillard and his family. It is very likely that he indeed purchased the painting directly from Roussel. According to the catalogue raisonné, Salz had the painting in 1953 (see note [1]).
[3] The painting was purchased from Sam Salz, Inc. with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. John Simon [invoice from Sam Salz, Inc. dated February 4, 1955; donation of funds agreement signed by John E. Simon dated March 3, 1955, SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, October 7, 1955.
by 1953 - 1955
Sam Salz (1894–1981), New York, NY, USA [2]
1955 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Sam Salz, Inc. [3]
Notes:
[1] According to a letter from Mrs. John Simon, who funded the sale of the painting to the Museum, the painting was formerly in the collection of Jacques Roussel, family of Vuillard [letter dated June 30, 1956, SLAM document files]. Jacques Roussel was Vuillard's nephew. He was the son of Vuillard's sister Marie, who married Vuillard's friend the artist Ker-Xavier Roussel. The painting presumably passed by descent to Jacques Roussel, who owned other paintings by Vuillard. Sam Salz was Vuillard's leading American dealer in the 1930s and after Vuillard's death [Salomon, Antoine and Cogeval, Guy. "Vuillard - The Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels." New York: Rizzoli International, 2003, cat. no. VII-186, p. 1542].
The catalogue raisonné of the artist as well as the Vuillard Archives, however, indicate that the painting passed directly from the artist's studio to Sam Salz [email dated February 24, 2005 from Mathias Chivot, Archives Vuillard, Paris, SLAM document files].
[2] Sam Salz left his native Austria in 1919 for Paris, where he soon became a part of the local art dealing community. He worked with renowned art dealer Ambroise Vollard, and also bought directly from artists including Derain, Vlaminck, Vuillard and Bonnard. In 1939 Salz moved to New York, where he continued to sell pictures to an elite clientele [National Gallery of Art, provenance website, www.nga.gov]. Salz was well acquainted with Vuillard and his family. It is very likely that he indeed purchased the painting directly from Roussel. According to the catalogue raisonné, Salz had the painting in 1953 (see note [1]).
[3] The painting was purchased from Sam Salz, Inc. with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. John Simon [invoice from Sam Salz, Inc. dated February 4, 1955; donation of funds agreement signed by John E. Simon dated March 3, 1955, SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, October 7, 1955.