id: 150507 accession number: 1981.63 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1981.63 updated: 2021-06-30 10:18:22.112000 André Bénac, 1936. Edouard Vuillard (French, 1868-1940). Oil on fabric; unframed: 124 x 96.8 cm (48 13/16 x 38 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kaminsky 1981.63 title: André Bénac title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1936 creation date earliest: 1936 creation date latest: 1936 current location: 223 20th Century Avant-Garde creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kaminsky copyright: --- culture: France, 20th century technique: oil on fabric department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture collection: Mod Euro - Painting 1800-1960 type: Painting find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Edouard Vuillard (French, 1868-1940) - artist After attending the Lycée Condorcet, Édouard Vuillard entered the studio of history painter Diogène Maillart (1840-1926). In 1886 he enrolled at the Académie Julian, where he was taught by Tony Robert-Fleury (1837-1911) and Bouguereau (q.v.). The following year he was accepted into the École des Beaux-Arts and was briefly in the atelier of Gérôme (q.v.). At this time he also studied seventeenth-century Dutch painting and the works of Chardin (1699-1779). By 1889 Vuillard was persuaded by his friend painter and theorist Maurice Denis (1870-1943) to join the newly formed group of artists known as the Nabis. The Nabis based many of their ideas on synthetism, first developed by Gauguin (q.v.) and Émile Bernard (1868-1941), in which the artist was to work not from nature but from memory. Vuillard's initial synthetist works reveal a preoccupation with pattern and bright colors, denying the three-dimensionality of the object. By 1892, however, his colors were more subdued, reflecting his desire to mimic the unusual lighting effects that he had seen in symbolist theater. Vuillard's first major commissions date from this time, including nine panels for the dining room of Alexandre Natanson and four decorative panels for the library of Dr. Henri Vaquez. In 1898 Vuillard visited Venice and Florence, and the following year he and Bonnard (q.v.), a fellow member of the Nabis, made an excursion to London. Later they went to Milan and Venice and eventually to Spain. Vuillard also made trips to Brittany and Normandy. His first public commission came in 1912, when he was asked to paint panels for the foyer of the Comédie des Champs-Elysées in Paris. During that period he moved beyond the synthetism of the Nabis and returned to a more traditional perspective. At the same time he was accepting commissions for portraits. In 1936 he was chosen to paint a mural at the Palais des Nations in Geneva and was subsequently elected to the Institut de France. --- measurements: Unframed: 124 x 96.8 cm (48 13/16 x 38 1/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Signed lower right: E. Vuillard 1936 translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Year in Review for 1981 opening date: 1982-02-17T05:00:00 The Year in Review for 1981. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer). title: Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2006-05-27T00:00:00 Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Albi, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec. Exposition Édouard Vuillard (1868-1940): Peintures, Aquarelles, Dessins (1960), no. 88, Portrait de Monsieur Bénac, 1936, collection particulière, Paris. --- PROVENANCE André Bénac, until his death in October 1937. His widow, Mme Bénac, until 1945. Their daughter, Mme Caudrelier-Bénac, and her husband. Louis Caudrelier-Bénac, their eldest son. London sale, Sotheby's, 7 April 1976 (70, repr.), Homme assis à son bureau, for £2,200 to William Pall, U.S. Gary Katz, Cleveland. Through Mitchell Shaheen (Brett Mitchell Coll., Inc., Lyndhurst, Ohio), on loan to the cma in 1977 as promised gift. Bought by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kaminsky, North Royalton, Ohio, 1980. Given to the CMA in 1981. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: In the final two decades of his life, Vuillard focused primarily on painting portraits of notable figures in finance, politics, art, and literature. digital description: wall description: Vuillard belonged to the artistic movement called The Nabis, the Hebrew term for prophet. The Nabis banded together in the late 19th century to create a new artistic language based upon the expressive potential of decorative color and stylized forms. Vuillard's success as part of this group encouraged wealthy patrons to seek his services, but for more realistically rendered portraits. The present piece was requested by the Compagnie Parisienne de Distribution d'Éléctricité, the Paris company for which the sitter, André Bénac, was president. The commission was made to commemorate Bénac receiving the Grand Croix, the highest award of the Legion of Honor. Vuillard made two versions of the portrait-this one meant for Bénac and another one, now in Zurich, Switzerland, (see photo), to remain the property of the company. In each case, the sitter appears in his living room/office, and he holds an identical pose, showing the same warm, friendly smile. However, in the museum's portrait, Vuillard omitted a significant portion of the surrounding room and altered the format from horizontal to vertical. The viewer can focus more easily upon the man represented because the diagonal of the table has been cut closer to the sitter and no longer leads the eye away toward the window. Photo of: Vuillard. André Bénac, 1935-36; distemper on canvas; 51 in. x 61 1/2 in. Fondation Rau pour le Tiers-Monde, Zurich. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1981.63/1981.63_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1981.63/1981.63_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1981.63/1981.63_full.tif