Édouard Vuillard, the Nabis, and the politics of domesticity

Abstract

"Highly influential, and - as this book shows - also politically engaged, the art of the Nabis (1888-1900) lay the groundwork for the transition from impressionism to modernism in French art. This ground-breaking book is the first to address the feminine and feminist politics of domesticity in the Intimiste art of Édouard Vuillard and the Nabis. Personal in motif and decorative in form, Francesca Berry's extensive historical research and skilled visual analysis reveal the social and political, sometimes even feminist, meanings of these artworks. Transcending the structural repression of domesticity in histories of modernist art, this book powerfully overturns residual myths of aesthetic introspection and social retreat that for too long have been attached to Nabi Synthetism"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents

'Intimisme' and the critical politics of domesticity -- 'Atelier-chambre' and 'chambre' : the sexual politics of 'intimiste' space -- 'Maman' : muse and motif -- Seeing and sewing : the family business -- Brush and broom : housework as art work.