View in Switzerland

View in Switzerland of 1900 documents a visit to Switzerland — possibly to one of the Swiss German cities where his work was collected and exhibited, or to a Swiss landscape as part of a journey. His Swiss subjects are rare enough to be notable departures from his usual territory, and this 1900 canvas documents a moment of geographical expansion beyond his typical Parisian and Normandy environments. Switzerland's landscape — Alpine or pre-Alpine, quite different from the flat Norman coast or the Seine valley — would have required different chromatic responses than his usual outdoor subjects. His Swiss collectors' enthusiasm for his work made Switzerland a significant destination for French Post-Impressionist paintings, and his visit may have coincided with professional connections to collectors like the Bührle and Winterthur families who were building important holdings of his work.

Vuillard applies his characteristic flat, pattern-conscious brushwork to the Alpine landscape, treating mountain forms and vegetation with the same simplified, surface-aware approach he brought to interiors. The result transposes his Nabi principles onto unfamiliar terrain, making the work an interesting exception in his career.