André Bénac

André Bénac was a French politician and civil servant; Vuillard's portrait of him belongs to his substantial late career output of commissioned male portraits, a practice that grew significantly after World War One as his early avant-garde identity gave way to a role as the portraitist of choice for the Parisian establishment. These late portraits are sometimes dismissed as merely decorative, but they represent Vuillard's sustained attempt to reconcile his pattern-dissolving aesthetic with the practical requirements of likeness demanded by sitters who wanted to be identified, not merged into their wallpaper.

The sitter is depicted in an interior setting with furnishings and wall surfaces treated with Vuillard's characteristic close-valued pattern. The face is rendered with greater specificity than the surrounding environment. The paint surface is richer and more detailed than his early Nabi work, reflecting the shift toward a technically more accomplished if formally less radical late style.