The Clarac Gallery

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The Clarac Gallery

Artist Edouard Vuillard (French, 1868-1940)

Place of OriginParis, France

Date1922

DimensionsPainting: 38 5/8 × 45 5/8 in. (98.1 × 115.9 cm)
Frame: 46 1/2 × 53 1/2 × 3 in. (118.1 × 135.9 × 7.6 cm)

Mediumoil with distemper

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1999.2

On View

Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion (2444 Monroe Street), Glass Study Room GP

Label TextIn an ornate gallery in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, a man and three women (one only partially visible at the left) look at, read about, and contemplate Greek antiquities. While capturing contemporary Parisian life, La Salle Clarac is also an image about the act of looking at art. Edouard Vuillard encourages us to identify with the spectators in the painting by using a low vantage point for the scene that sets us at their level. Painted not long after the devastating destruction of World War I (1914–18), the picture also reminds us of the function of museums to preserve and present humanity’s artistic and cultural heritage for posterity. La Salle Clarac is one of four paintings of interior scenes set in some of Vuillard’s favorite galleries at the Louvre, painted on commission for a private home in Switzerland. Vuillard achieved the unusual matte surface by applying distemper—a water-based medium that dries quickly—along with slower-drying oil paint. Additionally, he deliberately left the canvas unvarnished, eliminating its glossy effects.Published ReferencesSalomon, Jacques, Vuillard admire, Paris, La Bibliotheque des Arts [1961], repr. p. 140.

Russell, John, Vuillard, Greenwich, New York Graphic Society, 1971, repr. p. 46.

Thomson, Belinda, Vuillard, New York, Abbeville, 1988, pp. 138-139, fig. 126, p. 140 (col.).

Thornton, Charlotte Mae, Au Louvre: The Creative Process of Edouard Vuillard, University of Texas at Austin, 1989 (unpublished M.A. thesis).

Vuillard, Paris, Flammarion, 1990, repr. p. 91.

Copier Creer, de Turner a Picasso: 300 oeuvres inspirees par les maritres du Louvre, Paris, Reunion des musees nationaux, 1993, p. 71, fig. 23a, p. 70.

The International Fine Art Fair: The Seventh Regiment Armory, London, International Fine Art Fair, 1998, repr. p. 46 (col.).

"A Selection of 1999 Museum Acquisitions," Apollo, vol. 150, no 454, Dec. 1999, repr. p. 43 (col.).

"La chronique des Art," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 135, no. 1574, Mar. 2000, repr. p. 67.

"News & Notes," Art & Antiques, vol. 23, no. 5, May 2000, p. 34, repr. (col.).

Berkowitz, Roger M., "Selected Acquisitions Made by the Toledo Museum of Art, 1901-2001," Burlington Magazine, vol. 143, no. 1177, April, 2001, p. 260, fig. IX (col.).

Groom, Gloria, Beyond the Easel: Decorative Painting by Bonnard, Vuillard, Denis, and Roussel, 1890-1930, Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, 2001, pp. 161, 168, n. 103, fig. 14, p. 161 (col.).

Cogeval, Guy, Edouard Vuillard, Washington, D. C., National Gallery of Art, 2003, pp. 338-339, fig. 3, p. 339.

Salomon, Antoine and Guy Cogeval, Vuillard, The Inexhaustible Glance: Critical Catalogue of Paintings and Pastels, Milano, Skira, 2003, vol. 3, XI-179.3, pp. 1386, 1389, repr. (col.) p. 1387, p. 1390 [installed in Bauer residence].

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2005, p. 9 and cover, repr. (col.)

Radrizzani, Dominique, Dessins Francais: collection du Cabinet des dessins du Musee d'art et d'histoire de Geneve, Paris, Somogy, 2004, p. 142, fig. 2.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 304, repr. (col.).

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2009, p. 9 and cover, repr. (col.)

Schwandner, Martin,

Edouard Vuillard in the Louvre: Paintings for a Basel Villa, Munich, Hirmer, 2021. p.100- 110, pl. 18, 19 (col.), p. 138-139.

Exhibition HistoryZurich, Kunsthaus, Edouard Vuillard, 1964, no. 162.

Munich, Haus der Kunst; Paris, Orangerie des Tuileries, Edouard Vuillard - Xavier Roussel, 1968, no. 158, repr. p. 225 (Munich) and no. 157, p. 119, repr. p. 252 (Paris).