Artwork
Under the Trees (from "The Public Gardens")
Under the Trees (from "The Public Gardens") is an oil painting by the Les Nabis artist Édouard Vuillard. It dates from 1898 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
Vuillard applied oil paint onto a canvas support to create Under the Trees (from "The Public Gardens"). The work measures 214.2 cm in height and 96.3 cm in width, reflecting his characteristic flattened spatial composition and decorative patterning. Brushwork emphasizes surface texture while maintaining a cohesive pictorial unity, aligning with Symbolist approaches to flattened pictorial space.
History & Provenance
Painted in 1894, Édouard Vuillard’s Under the Trees was created during the artist’s early Symbolist phase and is part of the "Public Gardens" series.
Painted in 1894, Édouard Vuillard’s Under the Trees was created during the artist’s early Symbolist phase and is part of the "Public Gardens" series. The work’s first recorded owner was Alexandre Natanson, a Parisian publisher closely tied to Vuillard’s circle. It later passed to Georges Bénard and then to Henri Blum, both prominent figures in the Parisian art world of the 1890s–1900s.
By 1953, the painting had entered the collection of César Mange de Hauke, a French art dealer and collector. It was subsequently sold through M. Knoedler & Co., a New York gallery, to the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it has been held since 1953 (accession no. 1953.212).
Édouard Vuillard's Under the Trees (from "The Public Gardens") is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio. The work was created in 1894 using oil paint on canvas. Its accession number within the museum is 1953.212.
Prior to its acquisition by the Cleveland Museum of Art, the painting passed through the hands of several owners, including Alexandre Natanson, Georges Bénard, Henri Blum, and César Mange de Hauke. It was also in the possession of the dealer M. Knoedler & Co. before entering the museum's collection.
The provided sources do not list specific exhibition history or dates for this work.
Overview
Édouard Vuillard’s 1898 oil painting Under the Trees belongs to his Public Gardens series. Executed during his involvement with the Nabis, the work is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection. It depicts an outdoor scene rendered with flattened planes of colour and a decorative sensibility characteristic of the artist’s late‑nineteenth‑century output.
Subject & Meaning
A young girl in a dark blue dress walks away from the viewer along a leaf‑strewn path, framed by tall trunks and skeletal branches. In the distance, figures sit on benches beneath filtered sunlight, while patches of snow linger on the ground, suggesting a transitional season and a quiet, contemplative moment in a public park.
Context
During the 1890s Vuillard focused on intimate interior and garden subjects, experimenting with decorative pattern and spatial ambiguity. Under the Trees exemplifies this period, integrating the Nabis’ emphasis on colour harmony with his own interest in everyday public spaces.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jean-Édouard Vuillard (French:; 11 November 1868 – 21 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist, and printmaker.
