Artist Jean-Édouard Vuillard (1868 – 1940) was born in Cuiseaux, France. He was a painter, printmaker, and decorator who had great passion for his work. Edouard Vuillard studied art at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and Académie Julian. In 1889, Vuillard, together with a group of student like Felix Valloton, Ker-Xavier Roussel, Paul Serusier, Pierre Bonnard and Maurice Denis, formed an arts group which they called the Nabis (“Prophets”). The group drew their inspiration from Paul Gauguin, a great painter of their time. Vuillard lived with his widowed mother until her death. His mother was a seamstress, and many of Vuillard’s works were also influenced by his mother. His work dealt mainly with dressmaking and domestic scenes set in his mother’s bourgeois home. His mother’s influence can be seen in his artwork, Public Garden, a series of nine vertical decorative panels, which he did in 1894. Vuillard considered art as a form of decoration as did other artists in his group. He was commissioned to create this series as panels to be installed in a private home. In the panels, he portrayed women and children in the public gardens of Paris. He applied the paint in distinct areas of patterned colors producing 2D, tapestry-like effect.
Vuillard advocated a symbolic approach to color, and usually applied his paint in ways that emphasized the flat surface of the canvas. His admiration of Japanese woodcuts inspired him to use simplified shapes and strong contours. He produced so many pieces of high quality artwork. That’s why today framed Edouard Vuillard art are found in many galleries and in many private and public collections.