Description
The organic strokes that comprise Vuillard’s trees contrast with the linear divisions of agricultural land. The imagery is reminiscent of a passage written by the artist’s muse, Misia Natanson: “Solemn and dreamy, Vuillard led me along the river, past high silver birch trees. . . . He slowly moved through the yellowed grass. . . . Our silhouettes were just shadows against a pale sky.”
Provenance
(Galerie Paul Vallotton, Lausanne, Switzerland) (by 1973–at least 2003); (Galerie Kornfeld, Bern Switzerland, June 18, 2004, lot 150, sold to a private collector); (sold at Sotheby's, New York, NY, May 30, 2014, lot 11); (Galerie Berès, Paris, France, at the New York Art Fair, sold to Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley) (2014); Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (2014–2020); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2020–)
Accession Number
2020.120
Medium
oil on board
Dimensions
Unframed: 22.4 x 29.4 cm (8 13/16 x 11 9/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift
