Portrait of Thadée Natanson

Painted in 1897 and held at the Brooklyn Museum, this portrait of Thadée Natanson — co-founder of the Revue Blanche and Vuillard's most important early patron — documents the close personal bond between artist and subject. Natanson hosted Vuillard regularly at his Villeneuve-sur-Yonne country house, where many key intimiste works were produced. The portrait, characteristically informal, places Natanson in his environment rather than before a neutral studio backdrop. Vuillard's debt to Natanson was enormous: the Revue Blanche had championed the Nabis and facilitated commissions for decorative panels from its wealthy circle of contributors and subscribers.

The informality of pose is matched by a loosely applied paint surface. Warm ochre and brown tones dominate; the sitter merges partially into his domestic environment, characteristic of Vuillard's resistance to the hierarchical conventions of academic portraiture.