The model with the rose

The Model with the Rose of 1915, painted during the First World War, is a studio subject with a figure holding a rose — the traditional studio model with a single floral accessory creating a subject at the intersection of his domestic still life and figure traditions. His studio work during the war years maintained the quality of private, domestic attention that defined his entire career — the public world's violence held at bay by the continued practice of painting intimate subjects in enclosed spaces. The rose as a still life element within the figure subject created a dialogue between the fresh natural flower and the static human presence of the model — a dialogue he explored in various combinations of figures and still life elements throughout his career. His 1915 treatment would have brought his mature technique — more atmospheric than his early Nabi period, richer in tonal modeling — to a subject of traditional intimacy.

The rose provides a focal colour accent — warm red or pink against the cooler studio tones — that structures the composition. The model's figure is rendered with moderate specificity, balancing likeness with Vuillard's characteristic tendency toward surface pattern. The studio background is handled with his small, even brushwork.