Artwork
The Album
The Album is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Édouard Vuillard. It dates from 1898 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
The painting is characterized by its use of muted colors and soft brushstrokes, which give it a sense of intimacy and warmth.
This painting, titled The Album, is an oil painting created by Édouard Vuillard in 1895. It depicts a woman holding an album, surrounded by flowers and other objects. The woman is dressed in a long, dark dress with a white collar and is seated in a chair.
The background of the painting is a warm, golden color, with hints of green and brown. The overall mood of the painting is one of quiet contemplation, with the woman lost in thought as she holds the album.
The painting is characterized by its use of muted colors and soft brushstrokes, which give it a sense of intimacy and warmth. The woman's face is serene and peaceful, with a subtle smile playing on her lips. The album she holds is adorned with intricate designs and patterns, adding to the overall sense of elegance and refinement.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Technique & Style
Édouard Vuillard's The Album, created in 1898, is an oil painting executed on a canvas support. The work measures 67.9 centimeters in height and 204.5 centimeters in width, presenting a horizontal format that accommodates its depiction of a woman. As a painting classified within the oil paint medium, the piece relies on traditional pigments and binders applied to the woven fabric.
The substantial width relative to the height suggests a composition designed to capture a scene with significant lateral scope rather than a vertical portrait focus.
History & Provenance
The Album is an oil painting on canvas created by Édouard Vuillard in 1898. The work was produced during the Nabis period of Vuillard's career, when he was active as an Intimist painter working in Paris. The painting is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains part of the institution's collection.
No specific commission details, prior ownership history, or chain of custody preceding the museum's acquisition are documented in the available sources, and no accession number, gallery location, or exhibition history is recorded.
Overview
Édouard Vuillard’s oil painting The Album was executed in the late 1890s, a period when the artist was deeply involved with the Nabi circle. The work presents a solitary woman seated in an interior, her attention fixed on a bound album. Warm, muted tones dominate the canvas, creating an atmosphere of quiet reflection that invites the viewer into a private moment.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure, a woman in a dark, long dress with a crisp white collar, holds an album while surrounded by a modest arrangement of flowers and domestic objects. Her composed expression and slight smile suggest a contemplative engagement with memory or personal history, as the album may symbolize recollection or the act of recording intimate experiences.
Context
During the 1890s Vuillard shifted focus from large, public scenes to intimate domestic interiors, a change influenced by his exposure to Japanese prints and the Nabi emphasis on decorative harmony. The Album exemplifies this turn, foregrounding everyday objects and personal moments over narrative drama, aligning the work with contemporary explorations of private space in fin‑de‑siècle art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jean-Édouard Vuillard (French:; 11 November 1868 – 21 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist, and printmaker.
