Édouard Vuillard (1868–1940) is known today as a member of the “Nabis” (Hebrew for “prophet”). This group of artists developed symbolic visual imagery and a new understanding of color, which increasingly distanced itself from the figurative. Vuillard focused intensely on lithography, creating an unmistakable oeuvre of prints that is now primarily connected to the series Paysages et intérieurs from 1899. He began with black-and-white lithographs, some of which were used as programs. In the 1890s, Vuillard was committed to the avant-garde theater scene in Paris, whose performances were potentially scandalous events from time to time. These first lithographic works allow us to foresee how the artist acquired his technique, which he would master like a virtuoso within the shortest period of time. Sample printings of his colored lithographs make evident that the extraordinary colorist also knew how to sovereignly realize his new ideas in the color print.
Through rare black-and-white works on paper and condition prints, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung in Munich has extensively examined Vuillard’s exceptional treatment of graphic reproductions and the various methods that led to his visual compositions.