Interior with a Screen (L'intérieur au paravent),

ca. 1893–94

A leading member of Les Nabis ("Prophets" in Hebrew), an avant-garde movement that emphasized art over nature, Vuillard frequently depicted domestic interiors. These include the family apartment in Paris that he shared for many years with his grandmother, sister, and widowed mother, who ran a corset-making and dressmaking workshop in the living room. In this early print, Vuillard has transformed a familiar space into a place of fantasy, reflecting his work as a stage designer. The head of the woman seen half-length in the foreground is so strongly lighted that her features are almost indiscernible. Two spectral women stand to the right. Behind the screen, a mysterious figure emerges. The ornamental quality and intermittent floral patterns point to the influence of Japanese woodblock prints, such as that by Harunobu on view nearby.