Mme Bonnard with her dog at rue Drouai

Painted in 1907 on cardboard and held at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, this work at the rue Drouai studio/home of Mme Bonnard—likely Marthe de Méligny, Bonnard's companion—with her dog reveals the close interconnection of the Nabi circle's domestic worlds. Vuillard was a lifelong friend of Bonnard, and their overlapping social worlds meant that each appeared in scenes by the other. The dog and its companion are rendered with the same domestic affection that Vuillard brought to any figure in an inhabited interior.

The cardboard surface supports Vuillard's characteristically compressed, pattern-rich handling. The dog's small form and Mme Bonnard's figure are integrated into the rue Drouai interior's furnishings and decorative surfaces, with the animal serving as a compositional anchor in the lower portion of the picture's intimate field.