The Fireplace

'The Fireplace,' painted by Édouard Vuillard in 1901, belongs to his decades-long exploration of the domestic interior as the primary arena of his art. The fireplace as subject offered him an object of both functional and compositional interest—its architectural solidity anchored the room, while the reflected firelight created the warm, shifting illumination that animated the surrounding surfaces. Vuillard's interiors consistently dissolved the boundary between figures, furnishings, and decorative surfaces, and the fireplace with its warm glow provided an ideal light source for this dissolution. The Saint Louis Art Museum holds the work.

Vuillard renders the fireplace and surrounding mantelpiece as a dense surface where pattern, object, and space become nearly continuous. His characteristically flat, abbreviated brushwork treats architectural and decorative elements alike, creating the tapestry-like surface quality that defines his Nabi interiors.