Sur le sofa

Sur le sofa (On the Sofa) depicts a figure resting on a sofa, one of the domestic furniture subjects Vuillard pursued throughout his career. The sofa — with its upholstered patterned surface, its invitation to repose, its role as the site of conversation, napping, and informal social gathering — was a recurring element in his domestic interiors, and on several occasions he isolated it as the primary subject. The reclining or seated figure on upholstered furniture allowed Vuillard to create his characteristic figure-ground dissolution, merging the person's clothing with the pattern of the upholstery beneath and around them.

The upholstered sofa surface and the figure's clothing are treated with comparable detail, creating Vuillard's signature blurring of human presence and domestic object. The tonal range is warm and restricted. The paint handling treats the upholstery pattern with the same mosaic touch as the surrounding room.